10 Times Wrestlers Bet On Themselves (... And WON!)
5. Chris Jericho (2017)
Chris Jericho wasn't exactly a full-time WWE talent in 2017 - regular tours with his band Fozzy prohibited such a career move - but each time he returned to WWE, he reinvented himself. Case in point, the Chris Jericho who ended 2017 was far different to the Chris Jericho who started 2017.
On 1 January of the fateful year, Jericho was presumed a WWE lifer. The United States Champion only a handful of days into the year, Jericho's work alongside and later against Kevin Owens was some of WWE's most compelling of the era. But, he was gone from WWE programming by May, a one-off July comeback aside.
His WWE contract had expired and Chris Jericho was free to return to New Japan Pro-Wrestling, facing defending IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12.
Chris Jericho needn't work Kenny Omega. He needn't leave WWE at all. But as a man who favours evolution over staying in the same lane, Jericho risked it all.
Surely Chris Jericho, then a 48-year-old man, couldn't compete at the level required to match Kenny Omega?! And he didn't - but he sure as hell came close. He's regenerated numerous times since, too. The 'Painmaker', 'Le Champion', the 'Ocho' are but a few of the characters Jericho has birthed. The day Chris Jericho gets stale will be the day he calls it quits.