Noted for his over-the-top rock star persona, in-ring technical wrestling prowess, and his ability to reinvent his character throughout the course of his career, Jericho has been named by journalists and industry colleagues as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time.

Jericho headlined multiple pay-per-view (PPV) events during his time with the WWF/WWE, including WrestleMania X8 and the inaugural TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs and the Elimination Chamber matches and the shows itself.

Two months after completing training, he was ready to start wrestling on independent shows, making his debut at the Moose Hall in Ponoka, Alberta, as "Cowboy" Chris Jericho, on October 2, 1990, in a ten-minute time limit draw against Storm.

[9] Jericho and Storm worked for Tony Condello in the tours of Northern Manitoba with Adam Copeland (Edge), Jason Reso (Christian) and Terry Gerin (Rhino).

In CMLL, Jericho took on Silver King, Negro Casas, and Último Dragón en route to an 11-month reign as the NWA World Middleweight Champion that began in December 1993.

1994 saw Jericho reunited with Lance Storm, as The Thrillseekers in Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) promotion, where they feuded with the likes of The Heavenly Bodies and Well Dunn.

In February 1996, Jericho and Gedo won a tournament for the newly created International Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, defeating Lance Storm and Yuji Yasuraoka in the final.

[15] Following this match, Jericho began his ongoing gimmick of collecting and wearing to the ring trophy items from his defeated opponents, such as Guerrera's mask, Prince Iaukea's Hawaiian dress, and a headband from Disco Inferno.

He at first blamed the WCW locker room, then added Dillon, Ted Turner, and finally in a vignette, he walked around Washington, D.C., with the sign "conspiracy victim" and accused President Bill Clinton of being one of the conspirators after being rejected from a meeting.

Fifteen years after Jericho's departure from WCW, his best known entrance music within the company, "One Crazed Anarchist", lent its name to the second single from his band Fozzy's 2014 album, Do You Wanna Start a War.

On the home video, Break Down the Walls, Jericho states he was inspired to do this as his entrance when he saw a similar clock in a post office and Vince McMahon approved its use as his introduction to the WWF.

[28] Later that month, he would interact with several superstars including in particular interrupting a promo that The Undertaker was involved in, Jericho made his in-ring debut as a heel on August 26, losing a match against Road Dogg by disqualification on the inaugural episode of SmackDown!

[43] At King of the Ring on June 24, both Benoit and Jericho competed in a triple threat match for Austin's WWF Championship, in which Booker T interfered as the catalyst for The Invasion angle.

Christian and Jericho lost the titles to Booker T and Goldust in a fatal four-way elimination match, involving the teams of The Dudley Boyz, and William Regal and Lance Storm at Armageddon on December 15.

[62] Jericho won his record-breaking seventh WWE Intercontinental Championship at Unforgiven on September 12 in a ladder match against Christian, breaking the previous record held by Jeff Jarrett from 1999.

At New Year's Revolution on January 9, 2005, Jericho competed in the Elimination Chamber against Triple H, Chris Benoit, Batista, Randy Orton, and Edge for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship.

The next night on Raw, Jericho turned heel by betraying WWE Champion John Cena after defeating Christian and Tyson Tomko in a tag team match.

[85] Afterward, Jericho developed a suit-wearing persona inspired by Javier Bardem's character Anton Chigurh from the 2007 film No Country for Old Men[86][87][88] and wrestler Nick Bockwinkel.

[94] At Cyber Sunday on October 26, Jericho lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Batista,[95] but later won it back eight days later on November 3 on the 800th episode of Raw in a steel cage match.

[102] Following this, Jericho began a rivalry with veteran wrestlers Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, Jimmy Snuka and Roddy Piper,[103][104] as well as actor Mickey Rourke.

[117] Jeri-Show successfully defended the title against Cryme Tyme at SummerSlam on August 23, MVP and Mark Henry at Breaking Point on September 13 and Rey Mysterio and Batista at Hell in a Cell on October 4.

[118][119][120] At Survivor Series on November 22, both Jericho and Big Show took part in a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship, but the Undertaker successfully retained the title.

[201][202][203] Jericho also defeated Roman Reigns in a handicap match also involving Owens on the January 9 episode of Raw to win the WWE United States title,[204] becoming Grand Slam winner under the current format.

[205] Due to interfering multiple times in Owens's matches, Jericho was suspended above the ring in a shark proof cage during Reigns's rematch at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event.

[273] Following All Out, The Inner Circle started a rivalry with Men of the Year (Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky), and their ally, mixed martial arts (MMA) coach Dan Lambert.

At Double or Nothing on May 29, The Jericho Appreciation Society defeated the Blackpool Combat Club (Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson), Eddie Kingston, Santana and Ortiz in an Anarchy in the Arena match.

At Worlds End, Le Sex Gods teamed with Sting and Darby Allin to defeat The Don Callis Family (Takeshita and Powerhouse Hobbs), Ricky Starks, and Big Bill.

On January 13, 2024, at Battle of the Belts IX, Le Sex Gods unsuccessfully challenged Starks and Bill for the AEW World Tag Team Championships due to interference from Hobbs and Takeshita.

[298] Todd Martin of the Pro Wrestling Torch remarked, to agreement from editor Wade Keller, that Jericho is "one of the great wrestlers of all time" and in "a lofty category", while likening his oeuvre to those of WWE Hall of Famers Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Ted DiBiase and Dory Funk Jr.[292] Praised for his ability to continually evolve his gimmick,[292][293][300] Jericho was dubbed by KC Joyner of ESPN as "wrestling's David Bowie".

[307] Keisha Hatchett in TV Guide wrote that Jericho "owns the mic with cerebral insults" and is set apart from peers by "his charismatic presence, which is highlighted by a laundry list of unforgettable catchphrases".