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Chris Jericho winning the Undisputed Championship by defeating Steve Austin and The Rock felt like a star-making night. WWE fans already valued Jericho as a top name, but this accomplishment seemed perfect to get him to the highest level. Unfortunately, the bragging rights from that night years later became more valuable than his title reign itself.
WWE placed the world title on Jericho for a few months with the intent of having him become a true top heel. That goal failed with Jericho having a lackluster reign that actually held him back from reaching his desired spot sooner. The entire title run and the creative booking behind it deserves a look back. Jericho’s failed run as Undisputed Champion will be explained in depth.
Cowardly Heel Gimmick Held Him Back
Chris Jericho felt like a secondary part of his big moment when winning the Undisputed Championship. WWE was scrambling to reset most storylines after the Invasion ended. The need for an Undisputed Champion at all was to unify the WWE and WCW world titles. Vince McMahon reverting to his heel persona to feud with the now-face Steve Austin was the biggest angle heading into the show.
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WWE did a good job having four credible names of Austin, Jericho, Kurt Angle, and The Rock to crown an Undisputed Champion. Unfortunately, Jericho’s win came due to Vince and Booker T interfering to get revenge on Austin. Booker returned for the first time after WCW lost the Invasion and McMahon’s heel character took away some of Jericho’s shine.
The title reign went poorly due to this trend continuing of Jericho finding cowardly ways to retain the belt. Other wrestlers interfering or weapons being used behind the referees’ back helped Jericho win all his matches. Triple H, Kurt Angle, and The Undertaker had noteworthy moments to give them credibility as top heels of the Attitude Era at various points. Jericho never got that chance, even with his world title run.
Felt Secondary To Bigger Names
The moment of a major star winning a world title to get to the next level of their career is usually followed by booking to make them look equal to or above bigger names. Chris Jericho felt like a secondary part of the show during most of his Undisputed Championship reign. Steve Austin and The Rock were clearly bigger stars, but WWE didn’t even try to give Jericho a credible fight against them.
Vince McMahon announcing the return of the New World Order became the top selling point for a few weeks. The nWo interfering in a Jericho title defense against Austin even made them the bigger story for Jericho’s match. Triple H returning from injury was another huge story and should have been Jericho’s best rivalry of his title reign.
WWE set it up for Triple H to win the Royal Rumble match and challenge Jericho for the Undisputed Championship as the man who injured him the previous year. Stephanie and Triple H breaking up led to Jericho becoming Stephanie’s lackey to completely devalue the title. Other stories like Triple H vs Stephanie, the nWo debuting in WWE, and the Vince vs Ric Flair ownership feud all were positioned above the importance of Jericho being a top champ.
Went Right Back To Mid-Card After Losing Belt
The feud with Triple H and Chris Jericho should have helped both wrestlers move forward in their respective new roles as a top face and top heel. Jericho dropping the Undisputed Championship to Triple H at WrestleMania 18 did make perfect sense. WWE had a great story of fans treating Triple H like a hero for coming back from the torn quad injury he suffered against Jericho.
However, the entire story completely ruined both of their appeals. Triple H flopped as a face champion and turned heel just a few months later to feud with Shawn Michaels. Jericho was worse off as it felt his title reign didn’t even happen by the end of that year. The follow-up saw Jericho losing a few rematches to Triple H and some matches to Hulk Hogan before moving down the card.
WWE clearly didn’t view Jericho as an established main eventer after his title reign ended. Jericho even lost to a rookie John Cena just four months after he dropped the title. WWE valued Jericho as a tremendous heel, but he moved back to the mid-card and tag team picture. It wasn’t until years later when feuding with Shawn Michaels in 2008 that Jericho himself admitted he finally became a true WWE main event act.
