10 Wrestlers WWE Immediately Regretted Hiring

3. Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho 2000
WWE.com

Obviously, the hiring of Chris Jericho was a huge success in the long-term. In the short-term? Not so much.

Jericho himself has talked about how his early days in the then-WWF were miserable for all involved. Sure, his 9 August, 1999 debut itself still stands as one of the greatest in wrestling history, yet the bloom was soon off the rose where Y2J was concerned.

The infamous Jericho Curse struck to make the Winnipeg native's in-ring bow against Road Dogg a dud, and Vince McMahon and WWE decision makers soon questioned whether signing Jericho was a wise move. Despite all of the bluster and hype surrounding Jericho jumping ship from WCW, the present-day AEW Champion had it rough upon landing in McMahon's organisation.

With Vince unimpressed with his new signing, Jericho soon went from verbally jousting with The Rock, to barely being on TV. And even when he was given something to do, his rivalry with Chyna only added to the very real backstage heat the Ayatollah of Rock 'n' Rollah had on him - with him being one of many a wrestler to fall foul of D-Generation X.

It would take Chris Jericho several months to truly find his feet in WWE - to the point where Jericho himself even contemplated quitting the company. Thankfully, said feet would be found, and Jericho would go on to cement himself as one of the all-time greats.

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Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.