10 Reasons Why Chris Jericho’s Last Run Was His Best Ever
8. Y2AJ
A safe pair of hands for AJ Styles' first WWE rivalry, Chris Jericho put over 'The Phenomenal One' twice ahead of a surprising WrestleMania victory that appeared designed more to wreck people's prediction contests than represent future booking plans.
The story began one night after Styles' memorable debut at the 2016 Royal Rumble. The match marked an in-ring return for Chris Jericho, who had re-emerged weeks prior to announce his formal entry into the 30-man war.
Styles pinned Jericho in an excellent debut Raw battle, but 'Y2J' returned the favour in an even better effort on the following edition of Smackdown after the two had competed together in a match earlier in the night against The Social Outcasts.
The two had their best match together at February's Fastlane pay-per-view, with a Styles victory forging begrudging respect from Jericho that led to a quick ascent through the tag team ranks as 'Y2AJ' and a shot at The New Day's tag team titles after defeating the champions in two separate non-title affairs.
When Big E sealed victory over Jericho though, the tension boiled over. The veteran spitefully assaulted Styles with three Codebreakers to set up the WrestleMania match between the two.
Solidifying his heel turn, Jericho cut a memorable SmackDown promo on the death of the unit, blaming the fans' love of Styles for their severance and burning the team's new t-shirt as a symbol of the divorce.