Cook’s Top 5: Chris Jericho Tag Team Partners

As great as Chris Jericho has been in the ring over the past thirty years, he isn’t without some controversy. Like everybody, Jericho has his flaws. Like most people, Jericho’s flaws come to the surface a little more with each passing year. Nobody’s perfect, and there are certain things about Jericho’s personality that color some peoples’ opinion of the Demo God.

Sammy Guevara mentioned one of those uncomfortable truths on this week’s Dynamite.

Whoa! Too far, @SammyGuevara…Too far.
WATCH #AEWDynamite NOW on @TNTDrama pic.twitter.com/Bkx2Nd0iA6

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 14, 2021

Sammy tells no lies. Jericho’s been bouncing back & forth between various tag team partners ever since we’ve known him. Some wrestlers are largely known for one team. Jericho has held titles with many different men over the years, and he’s had plenty of teams that didn’t win any championships either.

So today we look at Chris Jericho’s 5 best tag team partners. There are a couple that I really like that didn’t make the list because they didn’t win any titles together. Eddie Guerrero & Sammy deserve an honorable mention, along with plenty that I’m probably forgetting. Anywho, here we go!

5. Chris Benoit

Jericho & Benoit were more known as opponents than as partners. Their series of matches in 2000 established both men as serious contenders to any championship in the WWF. Including the Tag Team Championship, once they were able to establish some mutual respect. They meshed well as partners or opponents, so much so that Jim Ross usually had problems telling them apart.

Benoit & Jericho’s lone championship reign came as a result of defeating Steve Austin & Triple H in a memorable match on Raw where Triple H tore his quad and ended up missing several months of action. Unfortunately for the team, Benoit wouldn’t be too far behind Triple H on the injured list, messing his neck up during a TLC match the night after. Benoit wrestled through the injury for a month while getting a main event push alongside Jericho against Austin, but it’d eventually put him out of action for a year. Afterwards, Benoit & Jericho didn’t cross paths all that often during the remainder of their time together in WWE.

4. El Dandy

Jericho made the trip to Mexico in 1992, where he became popular under the identity of “Corazon de Leon”. He competed in CMLL and several smaller wrestling promotions, including the Tijuana-based WWA, where he & El Dandy would defeat Silver King & El Texano for the Tag Team Championships. King & Texano, known as Los Cowboys, were one of Mexico’s most successful tag teams of the time period, also finding success in Japan & Puerto Rico. They would win the title back from Dandy & Corazon forty-two days later.

Some of you might question Dandy’s spot on this list. WHO ARE YOU TO DOUBT EL DANDY? The man was a serious professional and deserves ranking on any list.

3. Christian

Christian’s team with Edge is far more well-remembered, but “Vitamin C” had a pretty good run together in the early 2000s. Jericho & Christian had a lot in common as characters, both being shady individuals that couldn’t be trusted, but also couldn’t be denied in the ring. They defeated Kane & Hurricane for the Tag Team Championship, and lost it to Booker T & Goldust in one of those crazy four-way matches sixty-two days later.

Their breakup was one of the focal points heading into WrestleMania XX. Jericho had fallen in love with Trish Stratus during the process of a wager between him & Christian, and Christian was mad because it took Jericho’s focus off the team. So he wound up with Trish and drove a knife through Jericho’s heart. Might be one of the reasons why Chris has had such problems making a commitment through the years.

2. Big Show

Jericho had won the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship with Edge in June 2009, but plans had to change when Edge suffered an injury. Big Show was tapped as Edge’s replacement, and he wound up being the perfect with with Jericho. Jeri-Show had the perfect combination of speed & skill along with power & ruthlessness. Jericho & Show were nearly unbeatable, and held the title for 140 days before losing to Shawn Michaels & Triple H.

There were some superstar tag teams during this time period, but Jericho & Show formed the best combination of the mix. Later, both men would team with The Miz while forming similar team names.

1. Lance Storm

You always remember your first. Jericho & Storm broke into the business together, training at the same time at the Hart Brothers school. They were the standouts of their class, and hit the indy circuit either as a team or as opponents.  They won a couple of tag team titles. They got noticed by FMW, which got them working internationally. Jim Cornette saw a tape of them, brought them down to Smoky Mountain as the Thrillseekers, and gave Jericho & Storm their first break in the United States.

As hokey as some of the hype videos came off as, Jericho & Storm were still a state of the art tag team. They never quite reached the top in SMW, but both got further notice from their work there and moved on to places where they were better stylistic fits. The Thrillseekers never became a full time team again, but they’re still the first team that pops to mind when one thinks of Chris Jericho.

For me, anyway. You might disagree!