5 Amazing Chris Jericho Matches Outside WWE
Will Omega encounter be another classic?
Chris Jericho's showdown with Kenny Omega at January's Wrestle Kingdom 12 will mark the first time that he has competed outside the WWE banner since 1999.
After nearly two decades of committed service, Y2J has become synonymous with Vince McMahon's empire - so much so that it's easy to forget it makes up only around two-thirds of his career in the squared circle.
The remaining third was spent making a name for himself across some of the world's other promotions we're not supposed to know about - including NJPW, ECW and latterly WCW, from where he was snatched up by WWE on the eve of the millennium.
All of that means that Jericho has a huge backlog of brilliant - and sometimes forgotten - matches, many of them disparate in style from the type he has fought in WWE over the last decade.
And given that he's now heading back to Japan to test his ability between the ropes once more, what better time could there be to have a nice nostalgic look at some of his greatest non-WWE efforts?
Here are five that are worth a re-watch.
5. Vs. Rey Mysterio (Souled Out 1998)
At just eight minutes long, this one is proof that wrestling matches don't need to go the distance to be considered great (even if that was, admittedly, perhaps less by design than the fact that they needed to make room for some classic WCW antics at the top of the card).
Instead of trying to play it by the book, this bout sees a rabid Jericho trying his level best not just to rid Mysterio of his Cruiserweight Title but to maim him in the process by making a beeline for his banged-up, braced-up knee.
In fact, after its climax, he grabs a handy tool box that a forgetful workman helpfully left lying at ringside and begins smashing it repeatedly over the broken body of Rey (who, in a stroke of luck, would be heading off for a surgery-driven lay-off anyway).
It's high-flying action but with a great story - and considering that 50% of its competitors were technically injured at the time, it's pretty incredible that the pair were able to pull it off without any serious hitch.