A Look Back At Chris Jericho's Feud With Stephanie McMahon
The rivalry between Chris Jericho and Stephanie McMahon changed the course of the early portion of Jericho's WWE career. Jericho’s initial debut was so great that fans often forget that he had a lot of stumbles in the first year of his time in the company. The program with Stephanie when she was playing the heel wife of Triple H created a newfound momentum for him.
Jericho may not have had the career he did in WWE without the rivalry against Stephanie leading to such success. WWE allowed their talents to get rowdy on the microphone in the Attitude Era and Jericho certainly showed his comedic side at Stephanie’s expense. Triple H being involved did help, but Stephanie’s feud with Jericho helped make a new star.
It Was Chris Jericho's First Great Feud
The first few programs for Chris Jericho in WWE all led to noteworthy disappointments. Jericho did have promo exchanges with the likes of The Rock and The Undertaker, but it ended up hurting more than helping. WWE moved Jericho into the lower mid-card for segments with the likes of Ken Shamrock, X-Pac, and Road Dogg to try to find his footing.
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A failed Intercontinental Championship story with Chyna continued to hurt Jericho’s momentum until his feud with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Even though Triple H was the top heel in 2000, his bigger priority was in the WWE Championship feuds against The Rock and Mick Foley on PPVs. Jericho did have some moments with Triple H, but it was Stephanie who had a better rivalry with him.
Stephanie was finding her groove as a heel character, and it led to epic promo battles with Jericho. Fans rallied behind Jericho as one of the few face wrestlers to tell off Stephanie with comedic promos embarrassing her. The importance of Jericho also grew on television by having consistent television time with one of the most hated figures on the entire roster.
The Feud Featured Had Plenty Of Memorable Moments
The chemistry between Chris Jericho and Stephanie McMahon allowed them to create television magic together. Jericho compiled quite a few promo highlights that would become part of his WWE legacy. Moments like breaking the fourth wall to reference Stephanie’s breast augmentation to embarrass her or having a Planet of the Apes monkey pie her to celebrate the movie release helped him get over even more.
An argument can be made that Jericho and The Rock exchanging insults towards Stephanie, Shane, Booker T, and Rhyno was the funniest segment in WWE history. Stephanie was always a good sport at getting humiliated at the expense of Jericho and selling it with huge anger. There were the rare moments of Stephanie getting the better of Jericho when Triple H and others attacked him on her behalf.
Other wrestlers also benefited from Stephanie helping them, such as Rhyno and Rob Van Dam did in their matches against Jericho. The memories made helped Jericho remain popular for well over a year with the on and off rivalry with Stephanie. WWE realized just how over Jericho was becoming due to the segments with Stephanie putting him over the top as a beloved face in the company.
It Made The Matches Against Triple H Matter
Stephanie McMahon wrestling Chris Jericho was not going to be a real payoff to the feud, so it was Triple H coming back to the program that had to give the fans some big matches. Jericho winning the WWE Championship on Raw with a fast count from referee Earl Hebner before the decision was reversed showed how much the audience started to believe in him. A major moment teased for Jericho to get the better of Triple H and Stephanie showed how the program was progressing.
Triple H ending his feud with The Rock in 2000 saw him finally getting to have a match with Jericho on PPV at Fully Loaded 2000.The Last Man Standing match stipulation saw Triple H looking to defend his wife’s honor and Jericho attempting to prove he belonged in the main event picture. A great outing helped Jericho’s career continue growing with more upper-card opportunities.
Jericho and Triple H had strong chemistry, but it wasn’t the same as Jericho’s work with Stephanie. Fans loved to see their promo exchanges since Jericho was able to look strong and get the better of such a despicable heel. Jericho’s career changed forever by getting over at the highest level thanks to an unlikely feud with Stephanie in the Attitude Era.
