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Chris Jericho has accomplished a lot in his illustrious WWE career. It’s time to add a Royal Rumble victory to that list.
This year’s Royal Rumble is set to be a star-studded affair. With Brock Lesnar and Goldberg already confirmed to be in the match and the Undertaker potentially appearing as well, it’s sure to be a big fight feel at the Alamodome come January 29. But while those legends will be appearing, it’s still anyone’s guess as to who will actually win the Royal Rumble.
The return of the brand split brings with it the uncertainty regarding which championship the winner of the Rumble will be going after. Will the winner be a SmackDown superstar who challenges for the WWE Championship? Will it be a Raw superstar going after the Universal Championship? Could somebody choose to challenge for the opposing brand’s title and create utter chaos in doing so? Only time will tell.
There are plenty of storylines that can be advanced or created depending on who wins the Royal Rumble. But one of the hottest storylines of the past several months has been the friendship of Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho. With Owens not likely to lose his title to Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble, a Jericho victory would likely mean the two best friends would finally face off on the grandest stage of them all. Here are five reasons Chris Jericho should win the Royal Rumble. Drink them in, maaaaannn.
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5. Winning the Royal Rumble is One of the Few Things Jericho Has Yet to Accomplish
When someone has been in WWE as long as Chris Jericho has, it’s no surprise he has racked up some accolades. Over the past few weeks, Jericho has had numerous matches for Roman Reigns’ United States Championship. Although he has come up short every time, the announce team has played up the fact that winning the U.S. title is one of the few things Jericho hasn’t done in his storied career. Winning a Royal Rumble is another. Other than those two things, he really has done it all.
Jericho has been the WWE/F Undisputed Champion, Tag Team Champion, Intercontinental Champion, Heavyweight Champion, European Champion, and Hardcore Champion. He did all of this while constantly reinventing himself over the years. And despite taking a few breaks to go on tour with Fozzy, he has consistently stayed loyal to WWE and has always been a reliable superstar in and out of the ring.
This is not to say Jericho should be awarded a Rumble victory strictly because it would nearly complete his list of accomplishments. He deserves to win the Rumble for plenty of other reasons that we will get into shortly, but the fact that it’s more or less the one thing he has yet to achieve would certainly make a victory that much sweeter.
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4. It’s the Perfect Way to Progress the Owens vs Jericho Feud
As of right now, there is no Kevin Owens vs Chris Jericho feud. Team Kevin and Chris/Chris and Kevin have teased a breakup several times but have yet to actually follow through. Despite Owens repeatedly taking Jericho for granted and Jericho seemingly being fed up with Owens at one point, they always end up back together. But a breakup is going to happen eventually, and a Jericho Royal Rumble victory would be the perfect way to set that in motion.
WWE sometimes has a problem adding depth to their feuds, but this one that already has most of the depth it needs to feel important. Jericho and Owens’ friendship goes all the way back to SummerSlam, so when they finally do break up it will feel like a huge deal. Fans will be invested because Y2KO has been at the forefront of virtually every Raw since the brand split. So a potential matchup between these two at WrestleMania makes so much sense it basically needs to happen.
Plus, it would finally allow the fans to get fully behind Jericho and fully against Owens. Jericho has said that one of the keys to being a good heel is not having catch phrases fans can latch on to and not doing anything that will get you cheered. He has done the exact opposite of that for a while now as the list of Jericho and calling people stupid idiots have gotten the crowd behind him despite his efforts to remain a heel for now. This indicates a face turn is coming, and it could come just in time for a high-profile WrestleMania bout for the Universal Championship.
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3. He Has Anchored Raw Since the Brand Split
The brand split opened up a lot of opportunities for superstars on both Raw and SmackDown. Chris Jericho was getting plenty of camera time before the brand split as well, but once the draft happened, he was thrust into a position where he and Owens were the undisputed anchors of Raw. While SmackDown has largely been praised as the better show, Owens and Jericho have been perhaps the brightest stars in all of WWE since the summer. So what more appropriate way is there to reward that than by giving them the WrestleMania 33 main event?
There is an argument to be made that Owens and Jericho have saved Raw’s ratings. Last week SmackDown defeated Raw in the ratings for the first time. It was a long time coming since the blue brand has put on the better weekly show for months now, but it’s an impressive accomplishment nonetheless. It’s fair to wonder how much sooner SmackDown could have surpassed Raw if Owens and Jericho weren’t around. Their combination of top tier mic work and ability to produce consistently good matches make them the co-MVPs of Raw, and probably the MVPs of the entire WWE out of everybody not named AJ Styles.
Because of what they’ve done for Raw, it only makes sense to have them represent the flagship show at WrestleMania by facing off for the Universal title. It would essentially serve as a showcase for Raw, with them saying “These are our guys, they’ve anchored us, and now they’re going to anchor WrestleMania.” Jericho winning the Royal Rumble would allow that to happen and it would be an exceptional reward for their contributions.
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2. Y2J Deserves One Last Title Reign
Just last year it seemed like we would never see Jericho in a WWE ring for an extended period ever again. Due to his commitments to his band, he would usually show up for a few months and then disappear again. Thankfully that wasn’t the case this time around as his current run has not only been one of his best, but one of his longest. Still, one has to wonder how much longer Jericho will be around. And just like with any other superstar well into their 40s, one has to wonder if he’ll ever hold a world title again.
It’s the same reason many are picking the Undertaker to take home the victory at this year’s Rumble. Aside from the exciting possibility of Undertaker vs John Cena or the Phenom vs the Phenomenal One, people want to see the Deadman have one last title reign. He deserves it after all he has done for WWE. The same goes for Chris Jericho.
The last time Y2J held a world title was in 2010 when he was the World Heavyweight Champion. If his current run in WWE truly is the best run of his career, and many believe it is, it makes sense to give him one last title reign. In WWE, you never know when someone’s popularity is going to wane. They would be smart to take advantage of how hot Jericho is right now and give him the title reign he deserves while the time is right. And the best way to do that is by giving him the Royal Rumble victory and beating Kevin Owens at WrestleMania.
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1. No Other Opponent Makes as Much Sense for Kevin Owens at WrestleMania
This past week on Raw, Goldberg and Kevin Owens had a confrontation that made the WWE Universe wonder what it would be like if those two actually faced off. It would be a money match that would have a ton of hype, but the fact is it isn’t going to happen. Goldberg is almost certainly going to face Brock Lesnar at this year’s WrestleMania. So with that dream match off the table, who else would make sense to face Owens at WrestleMania other than Jericho? Well, nobody.
Roman Reigns would be one of the other possibilities, but that match simply wouldn’t have as much excitement behind it. We’ve seen Owens and Reigns face off countless times. Also, basically nobody wants Reigns anywhere near the Universal title come Mania time. We already went down that road last year and it led to one of the most disappointing WrestleManias ever.
And aside from Reigns, no one else has enough history with Owens to be a feasible opponent with WrestleMania so close. Therefore, no other Raw superstar should win the Rumble unless Owens loses the title before Mania, or the winner jumps ship and challenges AJ Styles.
Of course, a SmackDown superstar could win the Rumble, leaving the Jericho/Owens feud to escalate on its own. But it would be much easier to have Jericho win the Rumble because it would create a rift between the two friends that they didn’t really cause themselves. Their friendship is supposed to be unbreakable, but if Jericho won the Rumble and found himself with a title opportunity, all bets would be off.
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