[Artice courtsey WallsofJericho.net, an unofficial site dedicated to Y2J.]

Perhaps one of the most anticipated arrivals in the World Wrestling Federation has to be that of Chris Irvine, better know to his millions of Jerichoholics as "Y2J" Chris Jericho. Coming off of the shelf due to injury and his release from World Championship Wrestling only made his return that much sweeter. After months of rumors and vignettes, August 9, 1999 marked the day the WWF changed for ever. For the previous month, a countdown clock, "Countdown to the Millennium," had been shown before and after commercials. It was in the last hour of WWF Raw is War, live from Chicago, Illinois, that The Rock came out to conduct a monotonous interview. The lights darkened as the arena waited in silence. The countdown wound down . . . 05 . . .0 4 . . . 03 . . .0 2 . . .01 . . . 00. As the word "Jericho" popped on to the TitanTron, the masses erupted. Jericho went on to conduct one of his greatest interviews.

Many thought that such a spectacular debut would lead to an instant World Title. This was far from the case. The buzz died down, and Y2J was left opening a feud with Ken Shamrock. He continued his classic comedy by coining the phrase "SKAMrock" and enlisting the help of longtime ring announcer Howard Finkle. With Ken’s leave from the WWF being eminent, the storylines worked in that Jericho was responsible for forcing him out of the sport. In reality, Shamrock had severe neck problems.

Following that, Jericho had a small feud with D-Generation X from Summerslam until the Raw is War following No Mercy. The previous night saw WWF woman Chyna wining the Intercontinental Championship from Jeff Jarrett. The next month consisted of various shots between Chyna/Kitty and Jericho. At Survivor Series 1999, The two had a classic battle in which Jericho went down to a top rope Pedigree. The following night, in a fit of rage, the Ayatollah smashed Chyna’s hand in with a hammer. Finally, at Armageddon, Jericho won his first taste of WWF gold by winning the IC belt.

The feud continued, this time with Hardcore Holly added into the mix. Following Royal Rumble, Kurt Angle challenged the gold and won it at No Mercy. Long time rival, Chris Benoit, made himself a contender, setting up the Triple Threat Double Belt match at Wrestlemania 2000. The Canadian Crippler won the IC belt by pinning Jericho but was pinned himself by Y2J for the European belt.

The following night, Eddy Guerrero won the European Belt when Chyna turned on her ally in Y2J. He was on to bigger and better things as he even won the World belt for fifteen minutes one night on Raw. Triple H managed to have the belt revoked, but it was certain that Jericho was now in the main event. During Backlash Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit had an amazing battle that stole the show, even though Benoit won via a DQ. The same match took place at Judgment Day, this time it being a Submission Match. Jericho lost the slobberknocker (Couldn’t resist the term) after he passed out from the Crippler Crossface.

Months of hard work has earned Jericho respect in the WWF. He is without a shadow of a doubt one of the most talented and well spoken young stars in this business. Certainly, the future is bright, and many more title reigns will be in the future.