Why did Chris Jericho leave WWE?

CHRIS Jericho is known as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time after becoming a World Heavyweight Champion.

Here’s everything you need to know about why the wrestler and rock musician ultimately left the WWE ring.

Getty - Contributor

Chris Jericho left WWE in 2018 after a chaotic feud with Kevin Owens[/caption]

Why did Chris Jericho leave WWE?

Christopher Keith Irvine, better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and rock star.

The 53-year-old began wrestling at the age of 19 before going on to win a series of championships in the 1990s.

Jericho performed for American organizations Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling, as well as for promotions in countries such as Canada, Japan, and Mexico.

At the end of 1999, he made his debut in the World Wrestling Federation.

In 2001, Jericho became the first Undisputed WWF Champion – the final holder of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, having won and unified the WWF and World titles by defeating Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock on the same night. 

Within the WWF and WWE, Jericho is a six-time world champion, having won the Undisputed WWF Championship once, the WCW/World Championship twice, and the World Heavyweight Championship three times.

Within the WWE, Jericho is a six-time world champion, having won the Undisputed WWF Championship once, the WCW/World Championship twice, and the World Heavyweight Championship three times.

He has also held the WWE Intercontinental Championship a record nine times and was the ninth Triple Crown Champion, as well as the fourth Grand Slam Champion in history.

But the wrestling star called it quits at WWE in 2018 after a near-20-year run with the promotion.

Jericho’s 2016 to 2017 run in WWE was one of the best in his career as he joined Kevin Owens as a full-time tag team.

During their time together, Owens became the Universal Champion, while Jericho won the United States Championship for the first time in his career.

But things turned sour in 2017.

A feud started between the pair after Jericho accepted a Universal Championship challenge from Goldberg on Owen’s behalf.

On the February 13 episode of Raw, Jericho held a “Festival of Friendship” for Owens, who attacked Jericho, ending their alliance.

Jericho returned at Fastlane on March 5, distracting Owens during his match with Goldberg and causing Owens to lose the Universal Championship, turning face again in the process.

This led to a match between Jericho and Owens at WrestleMania 33, where Jericho lost the title.

At Payback on April 30, Jericho defeated Owens to regain the title and moved to the SmackDown brand, but lost it back to him two nights later on SmackDown.

Following the match, Owens attacked Jericho, who was carried out on a stretcher.

This event marked Jericho’s final appearance to date with WWE.

In September 2019, during an interview for the Mature Audiences Mayhem Podcast, Jericho explained that the incident made him finalize a decision to leave WWE.

Even though Jericho was with the WWE for almost two decades, the 2017 match between Jericho and Owens was marked as second place on the WrestleMania match card for the United States Championship.

The decision, made by Vince McMahon, prompted Jericho to seek work elsewhere.

What is Chris Jericho’s net worth?

The WWE Hall of Fame star has a staggering net worth thanks to his glittering career in the wrestling and music industry.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Jericho’s comes in at a whopping $18million.

He has also appeared in a number of movies and shows ranging from horror and sci-fi films to reality TV and singing competition programmes.

 In 2006, he starred in his first Sci-Fi Channel movie, Android Apocalypse.

Also that year, he made his debut as a stage actor in the comedy play Opening Night, which premiered at the Toronto Centre for the Arts.

Later, Jericho was in the horror film Albino Farm, the action comedy MacGruber, and the comedy Jay and Silent Bob Reboot.

On television, Jericho hosted the five-part VH1 special 100 Most Shocking Music Moments.

He competed on the Fox singing reality show Celebrity Duets in 2006, and hosted his own reality show, Redemption Song, in 2008.

Further hosting gigs came on the ABC primetime game show Downfall and the SyFy competition show Robot Combat League.

In 2011, Jericho was a contestant on Dancing With The Stars, partnering with two-time champion Cheryl Burke.

Who is Chris Jericho’s wife Jessica Lockhart?

Jericho married Jessica Lockhart, 49, on July 30, 2000.

The pair married at the St Charles Country Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Jericho was introduced to Lockhart by WCW wrestler, Disco Inferno in Florida.

Jericho has a tattoo of his wife’s name on his ring ringer.

According to Sportskeeda, Lockhart has a net worth of around $1million.

The couple resides in Odessa, Florida, with their three children: son Ash Edward Irvine, born in 2003, and identical daughters Sierra Loretta “SiSi” Irvine and Cheyenne Lee “Chey” Irvine, born in 2006.

Lockhart has continued to live a private life out of the public eye.

What is Chris Jericho doing now?

Following his WWE career coming to an end, Jericho has taken up a number of side professions.

He is the lead singer for the metal band Fozzy.

Since their debut album in 2000, Fozzy have released seven studio albums; Fozzy, Happenstance, All That Remains, Chasing the Grail, Sin and Bones, Do You Wanna Start a War, Judas, and one live album, Remains Alive.

The band’s latest album, Boombox, was released last year.

In 2022, Jericho competed in season eight of The Masked Singer as Bride which resembles a dragon-like Kaiju in a wedding dress.

After besting George Foreman as Venus Fly Trap and George Clinton as Gopher on Hall of Fame Night, he was eliminated on Comedy Roast Night alongside Adam Carolla as Avocado.

Since January 2012, Jericho, along with former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, ex NFL player Derrick Brooks, and former Atlanta Braves  baseball star Chipper Jones, has been the co-owner of a sports training facility in Tampa, a franchise site of D1 Sports Training and Therapy.

He is also heavily involved in charity work but keeps his efforts private.

In 2023, after Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin‘s on-field collapse during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Jericho donated $10,000 to Hamlin’s charity; originally a $5,000 donation, he later donated another $5,000 after misspelling his own name in the original donation.