Chris Jericho, who made his WWF debut in August 1999, became one of the greatest WWE superstars over the next 20 years, using various finishing moves like the Lionsault, Codebreaker, and the Walls of Jericho — a modified Boston Crab submission hold.
On his “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, Jericho shared how he came up with the name for his famous finisher while discussing it with former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.
Jericho recalled, “I remember debating what my finish would be. I think Vince (McMahon) thought I could use something more explosive than a Boston Crab. We were talking back and forth.
I said, ‘Whatever you want to call it, it’s going to be the Y2J Problem.’ He said, ‘No, that’s not the name of your finish, that’s your name.’ ‘What do you mean?’ ‘That’s your nickname.’ ‘The Y2J Problem?’ ‘No, just Y2J.’
That’s one of those little things that Vince is really genius about, a little detail that created this amazing name that, especially for the time, people still chant to this day even though I haven’t used that name since 2008.”
Jericho also revealed his original, humorous idea to name the finisher the “Standing Torture Device,” or “STD,” to play off the acronym’s association with “$exually Transmitted Disease” during the Attitude Era.
“Another idea I had was the Standing Torture Device, which was the STD. It was the Attitude Era. It would have worked.”
Additionally, WWE corporate had suggested other names, including “Rock N Roll Finisher” and “Salad Shooter,” the latter inspired by an infomercial product.
Jericho questioned the logic behind the suggestions, saying, “Why would I call it the Salad Shooter? I realized, maybe, because of the Sharpshooter, but what does salad have to do with Chris Jericho?”
WATCH: AEW Wrestler Toni Storm’s Revealing Photoshoot:
