The WCW Career of Chris Jericho

Wrestling Bios Presents - The WCW Career of Chris Jericho
Before he was Y2J, before he was The Best in the World at what he does, and before he was All Elite in AEW, Chris Jericho made a name for himself with US audiences in WCW as Lionheart Chris Jericho. Chris had already became a well travelled wrestler by 1996, working in Canada, the United States, Europe and Mexico. When Jericho had a brief run in ECW, Eric Bischoff took notice, and Chris Jericho was signed WCW in the summer on 96.
While in WCW, Jericho began work as a clean good guy wrestler. After a stint in Japan as Super Liger thanks to a working agreement WCW had with New Japan Pro Wrestling, Jericho made his way back to the USA and worked towards turning heel. Once Jericho turned at WCW Souled Out 1998, he was then able to cut some of the best promos of his career, from becoming "The Man of 1004 holds" to introducing the world to Jericho Personal Security and Ralphus. While Jericho doesn't look back at his time in WCW fondly, there's no doubt that he put in some of his best work within Ted Turner's promotion.
In this mini documentary from Wrestling Bios, we look at the story of Chris Jericho in WCW. Included in this video:
- Eric Bischoff notices Chris Jericho in ECW
- The Chris Jericho WCW debut on Nitro
- Chris working in the WCW Cruiserweight division along with early WCW PPV matches against the likes of Eddie Guerrero
- Chris Jericho / Super Liger in Japan
- Chris Jericho turns heel in WCW during a match against Rey Mysterio
- WCW Slamboree 98 and the Cruiserweigh Battle Royal
- The Jericho vs Dean Malenko feud and the man of 1004 holds
- Jericho's issues with Goldberg in WCW which eventually led to him leaving the company
- Loads more!
#wrestlingbios #wwe #documentary

[@rogueprince1341]

"The Man of 1004 Holds" was one of the best segments Nitro ever had. "Arm Bar!"

[@nikaoharbour6962]

The dean malenko Feud was classic

[@joshzpipos1]

jgfjgfify its the WWE Network

[@freshdamon]

I did a RL LOL at that but

[@vinniel4847]

I was there in the arena. Jericho was a master on the mic.

[@exe2517]

Don't forget another of his deadliest holds, 'Arm bar!'

[@gtaylor2455]

The fans knew where the talent was at. When we played WCW/NWO revenge Jericho was the most popular character.

[@handsolo1209]

And that is 0% to do with his real life moveset and 100% to do with the amazing charisma that he showed every time he was on Nitro.

[@blacknapalm2131]

The *'Come On Baby!'* standing pin might be the most HEEL move in wrestling history

[@JLvatron]

What 'tis?

[@lenn7272]

I loved Crybaby Chris Jericho. I met him when he was running that gimmick. He was such an awesome guy. Signed my WCW magazine with him in it.

[@beefgravystudios]

WCW management didn't care what Jericho was doing so he was able to come up with some of his best work. In a bizarre way, Chris had creative control, brother.

[@mrf19741]

The WCW Heel version of Chris Jericho has always been my Favorite! He had me dying when he started calling Dean Malenko "Deano Machino" & "Stinko Malenko"! Not to mention when he started bringing Ralphus to the ring with him!

[@GibDozer1]

He may have been a mid card guy, but Jericho was a top draw in WcW. He was one of the guys I tuned in specifically to see. Always wondering what antics he would get up to this week! Even way back then Jericho was my top pick to end the streak.

[@handsolo1209]

Yes, take away Sting vs nWo, DDP and Goldberg and Jericho was the next star. It was amazing that for stupid reasons that he got to do what he wanted and shine, but man, by the time he went to WWF is when they could have really used him.

[@kylesteinhauser2535]

Agreed! If Bischoff didn’t have such a hard on for the nWo and let the bit go on way too long, Jericho could have and should have at least competed for the US championship if not the world championship. He would have been a great heel champion. Definitely should have been the one to break Goldbergs streak if not DDP.

[@maxxdahl6062]

@@kylesteinhauser2535 He wasn't ready yet, hell Vince didn't even push him to that level for a couple years himself.

[@tommyhallum2747]

The fact that Chris was able to stand out in WCW is amazing. I remember his run very well and the fact that he had very little to no push from the powers that be there shows just how much talent he had.

[@cappy2282]

Soon as I head a Jericho promo I knew he was special lol. I was so pumped when he came to WWE

[@chperezjr]

Backstage politics killed WCW period

[@everett-tnredsfan]

If they had been smart enough to push guys like Jericho they would still be in business. Ralphus was gold.

[@handsolo1209]

No, AOL and probably 70% of the people at TBS hated wrestling and wanted it dead. Once Ted Turner lost his majority vote, WCW was dead. Jericho was just unlucky that when he exploded in WCW that it was during Sting vs nWo and then the rise of Goldberg. The idiots didn't realize what a star they had, but it's not like they were 2019 WWE and they had 1987 Hulk Hogan there doing jobs for Sami Zayn.

[@everett-tnredsfan]

@@handsolo1209 All of that occured after Jericho left.

[@handsolo1209]

@@everett-tnredsfan - No, the AOL merger was going on for a while and was only finalized after Jericho left. Oh, I see, in your mark mind, the people at TBS who for 11 years at that point wanted WCW dead and sabotaged it at every turn and the new AOL people who viewed wrestling as beneath them would have said "OK, Ted, now you only have 33% of the vote and our 64% say we will remove WCW from TV and sell it, hahaha..........................oh................................my................god................................WCW still has Chris Jericho!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ted......TED..................have our 64% and keep WCW, we.....we............we have Jericho!!!!"

[@everett-tnredsfan]

Okay, so your one of these. I know inside phrases people whose thought is absolutely right to the point rather than have an intelligent back and forth conversation I call names, use poor grammar, and just make stuff up to fit your own agenda and would not admit being wrong in one small way at all. My brother worked on the merger team at the time but yeah I'm sure you probably have a better source for dates than I do. Out of curiosity. Are you also one of the people who get upset at someone for liking NJPW and tell them what they like is wrong because WWE is the only thing people should be a fan of?

[@brianticas7671]

Probably yeah.

[@g-dub5272]

Bischoff was too busy stroking Hogan and the nWo, overlooking legit talent like the cruiser weights and midcarders at the time like Jericho

[@num1Jaysta]

Yet they were still treated better than the midcard and cruiser weights in WWE now.

[@paulhetrick1759]

@@num1Jaysta What are you talking about? WWE has a midcarder cruiserweight as their champion (Kofi Kingston), that's one of the main reasons WWE sucks.

[@paulhetrick1759]

The NWO was the reason WCW was beating WWE.

[@AD-ku2pv]

paul hetrick nwo was also the downfall of wcw

[@freshdamon]

And the rest of them they were all wasted there

[@tankimus4494]

Jericho was the man in WCW. I remember watching Nitro the night when he read off his list of 1,004 moves 😂

[@handsolo1209]

He was incredible and very unlucky to be 3 or 4 inches too short and have that many top guys already there when he was there.

[@brianticas7671]

He was not the man in wcw. He was overlooked. I was in elementary watching his matches with Alex Wright. When I first saw him he reminded me of Shawn Michael's. His mannerism and the way he hugged fans.

[@JLvatron]

Unlike WWF then, WCW's talent roster was outstanding. Bischoff said WWF's Stone Cold was "a big fish in a small pond", and I agree. Unfortunately for Jericho, he was a medium fish in a huge pond; always 1 of many. It also didn't help that with all his entertainment talent, he was stuck feuding with Malenko and Benoit who were great talents with zero charisma.

[@liquidgeorge]

Jericho has to be considered one of the GOATs 🐐- When has he NOT been entertaining?!

[@ryguy2482]

liquidgeorge he is the goat

[@JLvatron]

Unfortunately with all his entertainment talent, he was stuck feuding with Malenko and Benoit who were great talents with zero charisma. It takes 2 to make an entertaining match, and unfortunately for the cruiserweights, most had ring talent but little entertainment.

[@fitness65]

Even though i loved chris jerichos heel work in the wwe his heel work in wcw was legendary and was a big favorite of mine. It's a shame that wcw didn't see that as je could've been a main event heel in wcw.

[@bigstupidgrin]

Jericho's list of holds is my favorite promo of all time

[@claybaxter3202]

mine as well.

[@damightybenstein]

The original List of Jericho

[@JLvatron]

I like to think 1 of them was the Shake, Rattle, n Roll!

[@LissaBroyles]

WCW Jericho was one of my favorite heels of all time.

[@benlewis3847]

Most underrated talent of all the people who made it to the main event card. IMO

[@laquintinbelser8342]

For some Reason I always prefer WCW Chris Jericho over WWE Jericho that heel run in 08 was cool tho

[@Kas58223]

Laquintin Belser the heel run was well needed for him his work was unreal in 2008 against HBK

[@GibDozer1]

Agreed, he was extremely entertaining in WCW. I enjoyed his WWE work too, but I don't think it compares.

[@laquintinbelser8342]

@@GibDozer1 I Kno Jericho was over shadowed by the old timers In wcw but for him to outshine them by changing his character and stuff is really impressive

[@Ilkvomit]

Agreed.... I feel the same way about Rey Mysterio as well

[@springer90]

Heel Jericho was the best part of Nitro back then!

[@misterbelton]

“Moss Covered Three Handled Family Gredunza” solidified his greatness.

[@KenAdams426]

perhaps the best mic skills in all of the profession. No matter what he did, it turned to gold!!!

[@gochasingwaterfalls9970]

Snivelling, petty WCW heel is my favourite version of Jericho.

[@curtseed11]

The best was when he couldn't find the ring in each arena. I did enjoy conspiracy Jericho as well.

[@PimpUigi]

@@curtseed11 I don't remember that! Can you refresh my memory?? It sounds fun!

[@chrismurray5982]

Chris Jericho is one of the most entertaining and athletic wrestlers. I still enjoy Le Champion but I think his heel WCW run may be my favorite era.

[@mikeg155]

Hands down, my favorite version of Jericho.

[@andrewhagan7788]

Nash was calling guys like him vanilla midgets but those guys were on a level of in ring work he could only dream of. As a 6-9 year old kid, the cruiserweights were my favorite to watch, and became a fan of the actual wrestling aspect of pro wrasslin because of them. The guys like Nash, Hogan, and Flair were just icing on the cake entertainment wise. Imo this is a huge reason WWF won the Monday night wars. The main event guys were actually in great meaningful matches with intriguing storylines and actually gave their mid card guys a chance to grow into their full potential for the most part. Nash and Hogan felt the chance of being the main guys slipping away with their age and their egos took over with the ability of having creative control. Still a fan of both but can't say I have as much respect for them as I used to, and I think I'm speaking for alot of people when I say that. Nash at least admits up to it in his interviews though.

[@manraisedbypuffins9080]

Nail on the head comment right there - who was Nash to be calling anyone anything lol

[@handsolo1209]

No, Nash was calling Eddie, Benoit, Malenko & Saturn vanilla midgets and he was 100% right. Eddie was the only one with any charisma and it didn't show anywhere near as much in WCW as it later did in WWE. The rest of them though, jeez, talk about ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[@paulhetrick1759]

Hogan, Flair, Nash etc.... were the reason WCW was beating WWE. When WCW started trying to push the midcarders & undercarders, that's when they started losing to WWE. You have it backwards, the NWO, 4 Horsemen, Sting, Piper etc.... were the reason people watched WCW, Jericho & the cruiserweights were just the icing on the cake.

[@andrewhagan7788]

@@paulhetrick1759 I was speaking of my own subjective experience. The cruiserweights were the ones who had me intrigued enough and slightly more to pick WCW over WWF first and switch over to WWF during commercial. I think there are alot more people that had the same thought process as me as well.

[@andrewhagan7788]

@@paulhetrick1759 And they only pushed the midcarders because they had to. All the main guys were having issues and their storylines went nowhere.

[@Gamesta100]

Looking forward to his WWF video. His WWF debut is easily one of the best moments in wrestling.

[@NinjaStudent-yo5ws]

And the rock got interrupted

[@brandydanielle6212]

Thee Ayatollah of Rock n Rolla CHRIS JERICHO!!!!!

[@satanspit4101]

Jericho was really good at ecw. His matches with scorpio was high pace.

[@Zeitgeistmusic997]

He was a star to me, I didn't realize he wasn't considered main event. I just knew he was entertaining and looked forward to seeing him

[@smac919]

Same. Jericho is one of the first guys I think of when I think of WCW.

[@christopherpennetta8973]

Jericho beat The Rock and Stone Cold in the same night!!! I'll never forget that. He is my 2nd favorite wrestler of all time, and although things weren't nuts business wise while he was champ, it wasn't anything close to what we see today with empty seats at arenas, low ticket sales and shitty ratings. He held his own IMO when it came to holding the Undisputed Championship, and he was truly underrated at that time in my eyes.

[@greatwestern_footballshirt298]

Working my way through 1997 wcw nitro and all the ppvs, Jericho has been one of the standouts for me.

[@beezy22]

Best thing about chris jericho was that everytime he won a match he always told the ref to raise his hand lol....

[@nickcapella2440]

Jericho from wcw to now is a damn legend forever. His mouth was Better than the rocks.

[@watchmy666]

Jericho is the reason I went from watching WCW to watching WWF.

[@TylerMorganShow]

His debut from CHI was must see!

[@Wahidkhalid]

Very true he was my favorite wrestler at the time an to see him talking to rock on his debut was awesome

[@Mikey0521]

Now this is a episode personally for me to watch biggest jericho fan since wcw

[@OfficerDoofyInTown]

Like Jericho himself told in his DVD, he was very dissapointed of what's was going on in WCW back then. So he waited for a heel turn. And then he just started to having fun and screw around and the best part is. It's worked like a charm and turned Jericho into one of the best heels in WCW history. Fans started to support him and getting behind him. It was obvious that Jericho is a main event material and yet Bischoff droped a ball with him.

[@ljaproductions07]

Jericho's comment about silver king getting upgraded to golden king after a few more wins...comedic genius The seskatcheuwan nerve hold & armbar multiple times...comedic genius Gene Mean & Jo Jo Dillon...just gold lol

[@durt9872]

I always felt Jericho was instrumental in WCW getting over on WWF...very under appreciated for his time in the company. His WCW promos were pure gold

[@IsaacAllison]

You what happens when you make a bio of my WCW Days... YOU JUST MADE THE THE LIST!

[@afunnyusername5599]

thank you wrestling bios man, you're awesome

[@wood3876]

One of the best ever, and my favorite current wrestler.

[@ChillinWithBrody]

Man I'm Hooked on this channel and I've been binge watching all the wrestling bio's. This channel should have over 1M sub's. Keep them coming bro. You have a really good thing here.

[@tenbutts]

Jericho was my favorite part of WCW that I got to watch from my blockbuster video rental era of wrestling

[@PUUN402]

The man of a 1004 moves!

[@jameswatson7409]

Jericho is a top 10 wrestler of all time maybe top 5. He kills it and reinvents himself constantly to stay relevant

[@dyingbreed5386]

I remember the 1004 moves. I was dying. Was a fan of Jericho from back in the ECW days but stopped watching around 2000.

[@savannahnicholson2031]

Wrestling is Jericho!

[@randymanmaximus8419]

He was so talented back then. I loved his character back then. WCW didn't respect what they had.

[@17thNO]

To me "heel" WCW Chris Jericho was the best version of Chris Jericho. His moveset was great, he was entertaining on the mic, his storylines with Ralphus, the "Man of 1004 Holds" and the Goldberg beef was all hilarious and great.

[@slimpyman]

when jericho was mocking malenko, fixing wristbands and stuff, it was just way too funny!

[@officalscw6314]

Nice video and thx for letting me know even more some stuff about Y2J's career! Well done!

[@jamescourt5201]

Stinko Malenko, Ruufus, the WCW days were his best.

[@Scaramanga7]

James Court don’t forget the Jerichoholic Ninja!

[@Jiggaman360]

wow it’s lit! thank you so much for your hard but awesome work!

[@Jpgator1214]

The Jericho Personal Security bit was absolute gold 😂😂😂

[@elsantodelsol]

I mean Jericho killed the luchadors that night. "Here comes Silver King, 7 more wins and he becomes Golden King... Winner of the Lou Ferrigno look alike contest... El Dandy."

[@samuelparisi8171]

Chris Jericho was one of my favorite wrestlers when I was a kid in the 90s.

[@MALITH666]

Chris was not just a Talented Wrestler, there are plenty of Talents like that as you pointed out. But Chris was also an extremely smart man. He could read the room, and understand the situation thoroughly. Its why you see him jumping off WCW at the slightest hint of no-push. Its why he still remains one of the Biggest names, and the New Millennium Problem.

[@martian78]

If you never seen Chris Jericho in WCW I really recommend you search for some videos here on KZbin! Mainly his heel days. You will not regret it. He was very entertaining and that’s when I became a Jericahcolic! lol

[@malkazzz]

You can just hear the smile you have when talking about the 1004 holds section =) lol

[@jonhenning]

I’m watching his WCW years and he was great. He had it all. The ability, mic skills, and body.

[@mojojojo4865]

Pure class

[@cortneywalker459]

My guy thank you as always for the great in depth work you do for the wrestling bios .

[@Chillaxinmellow]

I've always loved HHH, Rock, Austin etc. but Jericho has had the most well rounded wrestling career of anyone of my generation. He has technically wrestled for New Japan, WCW, ECW, WWF, AEW & ROH/Impact (via his cruise being a joint venture).

[@troyowens4119]

Jericho was my favorite in WCW

[@codyweaver7546]

Jericho was my favorite wrestler as a kid.

[@allwightallwong5045]

From America and I must say your videos and stories are truly amazing!! Keep it up much respect💪🏿💪🏿👍🏿👍🏿👊🏿

[@VMpastore]

I’m just going to go ahead and throw a like up there before even watching haha. The frequency that you are putting these out is insane, but absolutely appreciated. Thank you

[@Shin_Mando]

This is one I've been waiting for! Thank you for this content!

[@Connely30]

Dope video man ... As Always ... 💪💪

[@daleholbert3111]

Thank you for your hard work

[@catyear75]

Overall Jericho was absolutely the most entertaining talent in WCW in those years... Taking into account ring work as well as mic work !

[@jeremyhassell7911]

I remember the 1,004 list of holds promo from Nitro, what a great time for wrestling.

[@thuaug4417]

I was introduced to Jericho through WCW and he was the best thing there, week-in-week-out, he had the look and intellect and charm to be a top heel or babyface, and it was obviously only a matter of time before he would become a top star in WWE.

[@manraisedbypuffins9080]

Really nice video mate. Good work as always :)

[@Hoonozit]

Thanks for the video.

[@msperry1719]

Jericho is in my Top 10. Dude is the total package and will go down as one of the bests.

[@MrVisde]

Jericho’s turn from babyface to heel was so good. He was such a boring character, then all of a sudden his mic skills took over. I can’t remember who it was, but he accused someone of stealing all his Loverboy tapes 🤣

[@turdferguson7105]

Man of 1004 holds....priceless.

[@fetalalien1369]

I love these vids, man!

[@funkychicken3808]

Well my man that was a great vid. Ive been waiting to see a Jericho bio for ages and you covered his wcw run brilliantly as always. Ive never made a request for a long long time but could you plz plz do a four horsemen vid. I know its a lot of work and would take time but if anyone could do it justice its you my friend. Keep up the good work, best channel on youtube by far.

[@Donniesquid4]

Wow, somehow this got past me until just now. My favorite wrestling character ever (heel WCW Jericho) on my favorite wrestling channel. Nicely done as always! I just wish I could find a video of Jericho announcing the wrestlers to the ring before the Slamboree battle royal. It was probably my all time favorite wrestling moment and I haven't seen it since that night (except for a couple small clips).

[@bizil100]

Bischoff had his answer to HBK, Bret, and Owen with Jericho, Eddie, Rey, and Benoit! That WCW main event scene was MISSING those great technicians and high flyers in that upper midcard-main event scene for a lot of the Nitro days. Savage and Flair were past their primes so I don't count them. Even though they were still over huge and good in the ring. BUT Bret , Owen, and HBK had the new age movesets and were in their primes. WCW had the guys NEXT IN LINE to get over HUGE while still being among the best in ring guys in the world! But WCW dropped the ball on those guys big time. They tried to give Benoit a BS World Title reign, but he was ready to leave the company. But EVEN back during the Nitro days, Jericho and Eddie AS HEELS grew into the best total packages WCW had. Once again, I don't count Flair and Savage because they were past their primes in the ring. But BOTH could have been used to GET OVER the guys like Jericho, Eddie, Rey, and Benoit in some great angles. Benoit leaving the Horsemen to help Bret feud against the Horsemen at some point should have been a layup!

[@paullangley8286]

Another great vid 👍

[@swampuswompus9914]

You really do your research man. I really appreciate that. I watch whatcultre all the time and I feel like they barley do any research. Keep up the good work bro

[@horrorfiend7694]

I remember during the Monday Night War after "the fingerpoke of doom" killed WCW for me. I completely stopped watching WCW and I hoped it wouldn't be long before I seen Jericho debut in the WWE. So fast fwd a few months to a Monday Night Raw the Iotola of rock n rolla interrupted the Rock's promo! Crazy to think 20 years later I'm still a jerichoholic and he's still doing great matches.

[@NinjaStudent-yo5ws]

I never liked him in wcw, but after he went to wwf I started liking him after I saw him feud guys I liked. Awesome matches and ecw, I liked his archived matches I got on my wwe version DVD’s

[@PimpUigi]

You didn't talk about his feud with Chavo! It was gold!!

[@TylerMorganShow]

He got over.

[@nanobluelectrobuzz9227]

With all the main event talent being Hogan/NWO, Bret, Goldberg, Luger, Flair, Sting wanting to be on top. Jericho had no chance to succeed. Props to him for leaving WCW.

[@retronerds6884]

Which really proves how stupid wcw was in their dying days they could've use Jericho in their last days

[@DragzFire]

Really surprised the nWo didn’t try to recruit Jericho in 98

[@NinjaStudent-yo5ws]

DragsFire3oh2 I was happy seeing him feud hulk hogan back in 2002

[@Robman0908]

He was perfect for the nWo

[@Dorotheeslutman9986]

Disco Inferno helped out a lot with the Man of a 1004 gimmick, the big printed out list was Disco's idea.

[@goalposthead79]

he was so good in wcw, the goldberg taunting was so funny

[@SmoothLion78]

Videos are always entertaining

[@AxeManGaming]

Does anyone remember the bit where he went on that streak of beating up the timekeeper, ripping his suit, and destroying his chair? He'd do it every week when he lost a match, only to emerge the next week, apologize, give the guy another suit and chair, then repeat the whole thing.

[@willkayl8793]

Please do Jericho’s career in WWE.

[@Kas58223]

WCW dropped the ball with Chris Jericho he could have been WCW champion if the likes of Hogan and the veterans weren’t there his promos were awesome in WCW, Nitro is Jericho

[@andrewhagan7788]

Nash was calling guys like him vanilla midgets but those guys were on a level of in ring work he could only dream of. As a 6-9 year old kid, the cruiserweights were my favorite to watch, and became a fan of the actual wrestling aspect of pro wrasslin because of them. The guys like Nash, Hogan, and Flair were just icing on the cake entertainment wise. Imo this is a huge reason WWF won the Monday night wars. The main event guys were actually in great meaningful matches with intriguing storylines and actually gave their mid card guys a chance to grow into their full potential for the most part. Nash and Hogan felt the chance of being the main guys slipping away with their age and their egos took over with the ability of having creative control. Still a fan of both but can't say I have as much respect for them as I used to, and I think I'm speaking for alot of people when I say that. Nash at least admits up to it in his interviews though.

[@MrMuttly55]

The whole cruiser weight division of WCW was just over full with talent. Guys like Prince Iaukea and Alex Wright should have been staples for the next 15-20 like Jericho years but just faded away.

[@KevinWCase]

This was great as always. I was always team WWF so I had no idea who Jericho (or any other WCW guy) was when he debuted and interrupted the Rock, but he quickly became a favorite. I miss the top of the head pony tail. I don't have the network but next time I'm at my buddies I'll ask to watch the matches you suggested. Cheers.

[@The4cp]

No no no! Prince Nakumaki. That was classic .