Is 2022 The Best Year Of Chris Jericho’s Career?
Daniel Foster
Published Mar 27, 2026
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Chris Jericho is one of the all-time greats in professional wrestling, and he has had many notable years throughout his career. Throughout the early 2000s, when he became a big name in WWE, winning World Titles, there were several strong periods. In addition, 2008, in which he turned heel and became World Heavyweight Champion was a huge highlight, and then in 2016 during his tag team with Kevin Owens, he was a shining light of WWE. However, 2022 may be his very best year yet. After 30 years in the business, this seems like a huge claim to make, especially when looking at the rest of his career. However, there is a strong case to be made.
Chris Jericho Bounced Back From A Disappointing 2021
Throughout 2021, Chris Jericho had begun to get some criticism for his work in AEW. Whether it be his worsening physique, less quality matches, or terrible babyface content, Jericho was getting relentless negativity from all sides. This makes it even more of a positive that his 2022 was as good as it was. At the beginning of the year, Jericho entered a feud with Edde Kingston, during which time he was undergoing quite a notable physical transformation too.
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At the Revolution PPV, Jericho and Kingston wrestled a contender for match of the night. It was a throwback All-Japan style of match, but it was the best Jericho had looked in well over a year when it comes to in-ring work. This difference in style may have played into it, but it was clear that the care taken by Jericho on his body was working, which had been prompted by a health scare, as per Jericho in an interview with GQ. From there, the decision was made to shed all the things that were making him hard to watch. The Inner Circle faction came to an end as Jericho turned heel, forming the Jericho Appreciation Society.
This group preaches sports entertainment, and this has led to some truly hilarious content. Jericho is often great when he is a heel, but is allowed to be funny. When he is a babyface, this feels more forced, but in this role, it works like a dream. Being surrounded by new faces, and having fresh content, made Jericho feel like a breath of fresh air compared to what he had been like just a few months prior. Over time, the group’s gimmick led them naturally to a feud with the Blackpool Combat Club, in a rivalry which helped carry AEW for a few months.
Chris Jericho’s In-Ring Work Has Been Stellar In 2022
From this point onward, pretty much any time Jericho stepped foot in the ring, he delivered. A hair vs hair match with Ortiz had a great level of intensity, the JAS vs BCC Anarchy in the Arena match was a fever dream full of incredible violence and bloody action, a trios match between the JAS and Kingston, Wheeler Yuta, and Shota Umino opened the Forbidden Door PPV in the best of ways, and the Blood & Guts match between the two warring factions lived up to the billing, and ended with a striking image of Jericho getting swung atop the structure.
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There was one little dip in the year, and that was the Barbed Wire Everywhere match between Jericho and Kingston, which was a disaster. However, after this point, Jericho focused on less gimmick matches, and it made for one hell of a second half of the year. Jericho went on to do battle against Wheeler Yuta, Bryan Danielson (twice), and Jon Moxley in a spree of show-stealers, with him also bringing back the Lionheart persona. This wasn’t just a nostalgia act, as he truly was returning to the great in-ring technician that he has always been deep down.
Chris Jericho Had A Great Reign As ROH Champion
Jericho would then shock the world by becoming the ROH Champion against Claudio Castagnoli in a marvelous match, before setting about destroying the heart and soul of Ring of Honor by defeating former champions. From there, he went on brilliant reign, facing an array of former titleholders in great bouts.
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Jericho stole the show against Bandido, Danielson once again, Dalton Castle, Tomahiro Ishii, and others in plenty of tag team matches too. His reign recently came to an end, with him putting over Castagnoli at Final Battle to set up a new era of ROH as it was announced that a weekly show would begin at Honor Club in the new year. Considering the adversity Jericho went through last year, the fact that he bounced back in such a remarkable way makes this the best of his career. It wasn’t perfect, but in terms of show stealers, Jericho may not have ever had more consistent in-ring work than he has done in 2022.
