Music: WWE super star, Chris Jericho trade wrestling for rock, headlines music tour

His name is Christopher Keith Irvine, a Canadian-american, best known by the ring name, Chris Jericho, born 46yrs ago, a professional wrestler, musician, actor, media personality, podcaster and a businessman. He is a six time world champion, former WWE United State Champion. He is the lead singer for the heavy metal band, Fozzy.  He is recognized as “The Man of 1,004 Holds”, but these days, he has decided to trade wrestling to pursue his musical career. 

His name is Christopher Keith Irvine, a Canadian-american, best known by the ring name, Chris Jericho, born 46yrs ago, a professional wrestler, musician, actor, media personality, podcaster and a businessman. He is a six time world champion, former WWE United State Champion. He is the lead singer for the heavy metal band, Fozzy.  He is recognized as “The Man of 1,004 Holds”, but these days, he has decided to trade wrestling to pursue his musical career. 

Jericho and his fozzy group are currently on a musical tour.  The group has released a latest single, “Judas,” which may just be Jericho’s biggest smash hit outside the wrestling ring. Fozzy also had a spot this month on the Carolina Rebellion festival headlined by Soundgarden, Def Leppard and Avenged Sevenfold.

According to the WWE super star, "I think a lot of times, when people hear Fozzy, they think I'm going to be on stage in spandex, doing body slams, and singing about jumping off the top rope," the Canadian-American entertainer told the Associated Press. "We've had some success with some of our songs, but this one [‘Judas’] has gone through the roof. It's really taken us to a whole different level."

Fozzy is an American heavy metal band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1999 by lead singer Chris Jericho and guitarist Rich Ward. The band is currently signed to Century Media Records and has released two studio albums through this label. The band's current lineup consists of Chris Jericho, Rich Ward, Frank Fontsere, Billy Gray and Paul Di Leo. Jericho has characterized the band by saying, "If Metallica and Journey had a bastard child, it would be Fozzy. As of July 2014, the band has released six studio albums and one live album. By early this decade, Fozzy flipped the covers and satirical spins and instead, attacked music with a more serious approach.

Jericho who has won over 32 titles to himself in wrestling, who has also defeated the likes of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin on the same night to win the WWE undisputed championship, scaled back his wrestling career and now shows up when breaks by the band allow him to hit the ring. 

He is grateful he's not in a position to choose one profession over the other. He’s earned the freedom from WWE to mostly come and go when it works with his schedule.

He said, "WWE, it's the brand name. I'm just a cog," he said. "An important part of it, people like it. But this is our band. People are here to see us. That to me, is a little more of a rush. It's not under the auspices of another name."

"It'll be a long time before I go back," he said. "If I ever do go back, if I never go back, it's fine. If I never wrestle another match, it wouldn't bother me."