Before his 2017 return to New Japan Pro-Wrestling and subsequent dream match with Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12, Chris Jericho spent nearly two decades exclusive to World Wrestling Entertainment, vowing to only wrestle for Vince McMahon. However, that doesn’t mean that Jericho wrestled the entire time. In fact, he took several leaves of absence from WWE, but would eventually return for a run before going on hiatus again.
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As a result, Chris Jericho has made several big returns to WWE over the years, although these stints are of varying quality. So let’s take a look at every Jericho return, starting with the absolute worst one.
9 2018
Chris Jericho’s many returns to WWE weren’t diminishing returns by any means, but his final return to the company can easily be considered by fans to be the worst one. Months after his Tokyo Dome match with Kenny Omega, Jericho was slated to replace Rusev in a match with The Undertaker at the Saudi Arabia show Greatest Royal Rumble.
This didn’t end up happening, but Jericho still made an appearance at the event, showing up last in the 50-man Rumble, lasting a few minutes in the ring before being eliminated by winner Braun Strowman. This would be Jericho’s final match for WWE to date, as he would return to New Japan two months later and then debut in All Elite Wrestling the following year.
8 2015
In 2015, Chris Jericho spent much of the year working only select house show dates for the company, with two out of Jericho’s three TV matches being glorified live event bouts. The first was an underrated effort against Neville at Beast in the East in July, followed two months later by a loss to the Wyatt Family alongside Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns at Night of Champions.
A month later, Jericho would unsuccessfully challenge Kevin Owens for the Intercontinental Title on a WWE Network exclusive event at Madison Square Garden. They were all solid bouts, but this run mostly amounted to guest appearances.
7 2014
After being written out of WWE in 2013, Jericho made his return to the company after nearly a year away for a two-month run on television, where he’d take part in forgettable feuds with Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton.
Jericho’s last televised match would be a losing effort against Orton at Night of Champions, after which he would take part in house shows during WWE’s European tour, before once again taking a hiatus from the company. This was a pretty underwhelming run from start to finish.
6 2017
After ending his big feud with Kevin Owens in May of 2017, during which he lost the United States Championship, Jericho took some time off to tour with his band Fozzy, as he had often done in the 2010s.
Jericho would then return to television nearly three months later, getting a rematch for his lost title by taking part in a triple threat with AJ Styles and Kevin Owens. It’s a quality match, but it was also the sole televised match of this return, as Jericho would move on to his aforementioned NJPW feud with Kenny Omega.
5 2013
Babyface Chris Jericho generally pales in comparison to his heel iteration, and Jericho spent 2013 not only as a babyface, but a rather unimportant one. Jericho made his return to the company in January, showing up at #2 in the Royal Rumble and reigniting his feud with Dolph Ziggler from the year before. From there Jericho ended up becoming the first rival of the debuting Fandango, losing to the dancer at WrestleMania 29, before putting on a somewhat forgotten gem of a match with CM Punk at Payback.
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After that, Jericho got into a feud with Ryback, and was written off the show after a post-match attack from “The Big Guy.” Overall, this was a rather lackluster run that made it seem like WWE was just bringing Jericho back to be a nostalgia act.
4 2012 (June)
In May of 2012, Chris Jericho got suspended from WWE thanks to an incident at a São Paulo house show where Jericho kicked a Brazilian flag for heel heat. After a month away, Jericho returned to WWE, and quickly turned face thanks to a feud with Money in the Bank winner Dolph Ziggler.
Their feud took them all the way to SummerSlam, where Jericho beat Ziggler in a regular singles match. However, for some reason WWE decided to run a rematch of the two the next night on Raw with Jericho’s WWE contract and Ziggler’s MITB briefcase on the line. Jericho lost, and was fired onscreen so he could go on tour with Fozzy.
3 2012 (January)
WWE began airing mysterious hype videos for Chris Jericho’s return in late 2011, but Jericho made his actual re-debut in January of 2012 in a curious manner: he spent a couple of weeks coming out, soaking in the adulation of the fans, and then abruptly leaving. Jericho was reportedly slated to win the Royal Rumble that month, but management decided on Sheamus instead.
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Despite that potential snubbing, Jericho still got a pretty big heel push in this period against WWE Champion CM Punk, leading to a match at WrestleMania XXVIII. This stint would be cut short by the aforementioned “Brazilian flag” incident, but it was a strong heel run that also debuted the iconic light-up jacket that defined much of his 2010s stints with the company.
2 2016
Chris Jericho’s best WWE run of the 2010s has to be his 2016 return, where he became a dynamic on-screen character again, after what felt like nostalgia runs and guest appearances. Making his in-ring return in the 2016 Royal Rumble, Jericho entered a storyline with the newly debuting AJ Styles, first forming a tag team and then breaking up that team to feud with “The Phenomenal One” all the way to WrestleMania 32.
After a pretty decent feud with Dean Ambrose, Chris Jericho would really hit his stride by debuting his “List of Jericho” gimmick, proving that he still had memorable concepts to contribute to pro wrestling. From there, Jericho entered a full friendship/betrayal storyline with Kevin Owens that ended up being one of the hottest angles in the company.
1 2007
After two years away from the company, Chris Jericho made his first return to WWE in 2007, where he immediately got into a title feud with Randy Orton and soon debuted his Codebreaker for the first time.
This was a great run for Jericho, as he would become a Grand Slam Champion thanks to a tag title win. He would also win the World Heavyweight and Intercontinental Titles, and beat his own record for number of IC Title wins. But the crown jewel of this era would be his epic feud with Shawn Michaels, which would dominate much of Jericho’s 2008 and be hailed as an iconic rivalry for both men.
NEXT: 5 Reasons Why Chris Jericho's Best Rival Is Shawn Michaels (& 5 Why It's Kenny Omega)
