10 Things You Totally Forgot About Chris Jericho
4. Lance Cade Once Served As His Protégé
The Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rolla has had many partners over the last 30 years but very few protégés/lackeys. Of course, Ralphus comes to mind from his WWE days and how much that toothless wonder enhanced Jericho's act at the time, but multi-time tag team champion Lance Cade is also among the elite few to have sat under the Y2J learning tree at one point.
Two weeks removed from his heinous attack on Shawn Michaels on 'The Highlight Reel', Jericho was joined by Lance Cade on Raw. It seemed like a strange move at the time, but once it was revealed that Cade was trained by The Heartbreak Kid years earlier, the development made perfect sense.
Cade wrestled only a handful of matches while with Jericho, but the exposure he gained by being associated with the best in the world at what he does was invaluable. He was a crucial component of Jericho's rise to superstardom throughout 2008 and helped him retain the World Heavyweight Championship on countless occasions.
Despite Cade pinning Michaels in tag team action weeks earlier, Jericho's alliance with Cade came to an abrupt end following Cade's WWE release that October. Jericho was just fine on his own again, but it was a shame for Cade to be let go at the peak of his push in the promotion due to his own personal demons.