25 Great Wrestlers That EVERYBODY Turned Against
23. Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho was a beloved figure by at least half the North American wrestling audience in late-2019. He had to be.
The former 'Y2J' had been the surprise leader of a wrestling revolution, legitimising All Elite Wrestling as one of its banner stars and inaugural World Heavyweight Champion. He was a fabulous, complete heel in his new role, but the sort fans loved to hate, rather than actively disliked. It was perfect for the time, but Jericho was the last one to acknowledge when that time had passed.
An uneven 2021 in particular was a sign of things to come, but a particularly excellent in-ring run in 2022 led many to reasonably assume that the career renaissance man had done it again. It turned out to be the last peak of his time with the company.
A constant grating presence, his matches and promos were consistently the weakest aspects of Dynamite, Collision and Ring Of Honor (he spent time on all three), and quality of work seemed to have no bearing on quantity of appearances. Latterly in his tenure, some allegedly unsavoury actions outside the ring resulted in many audiences seemingly disassociating from anything he was doing on-screen, furthering the malaise.
As of writing, an once-thought-unlikely WWE return looks almost certain thanks to just how much he's in need of a fresh start.