Christopher Keith Irvine was born on November 9, 1970 in Manhasset, New York. His father, ice hockey player Ted Irvine, had relocated there to play for the New York Rangers. When his father retired, they moved back to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Irvine is of Scottish descent on his father's side.

On August 10, Jericho defeated Stevie Ray to win the World Television Championship (Stevie Ray substituting for the champion Booker T). Soon afterward, Jericho repeatedly called out WCW World Heavyweight Champion Goldberg in an attempt to begin a feud with him, but never actually wrestled him. Jericho cites Eric Bischoff, Goldberg and Hulk Hogan's refusal to book Jericho in a pay-per-view squash match loss against Goldberg, which Jericho felt would be a big draw, as a major reason for leaving the company.  On November 30, Jericho lost the World Television Championship to Konnan. In early 1999, Jericho began a feud with Perry Saturn. The feud saw Jericho and Saturn instigating bizarre stipulation matches, such as at Souled Out, where Jericho defeated Saturn in a "loser must wear a dress" match. At SuperBrawl IX, Jericho and Saturn wrestled in a "dress" match which Jericho won. Saturn finally defeated Jericho at Uncensored in a Dog Collar match. Jericho alternated between WCW and a number of Japanese tours before he signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on June 30. Jericho's final WCW match came during a Peoria, Illinois house show July 21, where he and Eddie Guerrero lost to Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio Jr. in a tag team match.  Fifteen years after Jericho's departure from WCW, his best known entrance music within the company, "One Crazed Anarchist", lent its name to the title of the second single from his band Fozzy's 2014 album, Do You Wanna Start a War.

How soon after did he leave the company?
Jericho alternated between WCW and a number of Japanese tours before he signed a contract with the World Wrestling Federation