WWE has been slowly building towards a split between Chris Jericho and current WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens. The two were actually split up on this past Monday’s Raw , but it was clear that the split isn’t complete yet, as Owens spent almost the entire episode trying to win back his best friend.
Both Owens and Jericho have matches at the upcoming Roadblock: End of the Line show on December 18, so a full on split probably won’t happen until after the event. But, one thing is for sure, they will do a full on split at some point in the near future.
The current Royal Rumble odds suggest that Chris Jericho will win WWE’s annual 30-man match, which will give him a guaranteed shot at the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 33 .
Chris Jericho reveals in ESPN interview that he’s under a three-month rolling contract with WWE; was originally expected to be done after WM pic.twitter.com/DX851SQKkB
— CULT OF WHATEVER (@cultofwhatever) November 27, 2016
Kevin Owens is set to defend his Universal Championship against Roman Reigns at the aforementioned Roadblock: End of the Line. There is a rumor going around which suggests that Reigns will defeat Owens, win the Universal Championship, and become WWE’s version of the UFC’s Conor McGregor , who is currently a double champion. But, WWE could, and probably should go in a different direction.
There’s a chance that the little rift between Owens and Jericho is happening to make us think that Owens won’t have Jericho’s help against Reigns on December 18, so that if Jericho decides to, once again, help his buddy retain his title, it’ll be something that no one will see coming.
It does look like we’ll get a Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens match at WrestleMania 33 , but the only question is, will that match be for the WWE Universal Championship? Well, that question could very well be answered at the Roadblock: End of the Line show. If Owens walks out with the title, that could be a major hint that Jericho will win the Royal Rumble , and challenge his former best friend on WWE’s grandest stage. But, if Reigns wins, then it’ll be pretty clear that WWE has other plans for Raw’s main title.
On Tuesday, Cageside Seats reported that Chris Jericho won’t have much time for WWE after WrestleMania 33 , as he’ll be getting ready to do a spring tour with his band, Fozzy. On top of doing a tour, he’s also recording a new album with the band, and working on a fourth book. So, his time with WWE will be limited after their biggest show of the year.
Update on Chris Jericho’s Tour with Fozzy https://t.co/BgXf9zkTAH
— Wrestling-Edge (@WrestlingEdge) December 6, 2016
If Jericho is actually planning to take another hiatus from WWE, his title reign will probably be a short one. But, if he wins the title at WrestleMania 33 , he’ll do the one thing in his career that he’s never done, which is win the World Championship as a babyface. Of course, we don’t know if he’ll be a babyface at WrestleMania 33 , but it’s pretty safe to assume that he will be.
Jericho has also never won a Royal Rumble match, so if the current odds are correct, the first quarter of 2017 will be great for “Y2J,” and, who knows? Maybe he’ll decide to stick around and make 2017 even better than 2016 was.
Chris Jericho is currently in the midst of what could be the best run of his entire career. It’s a run that he feels cemented him as a true top guy in WWE, although many would argue that he was cemented as a top guy many years ago, during his feud with Shawn Michaels.
Even at the age of 46, Chris Jericho is still one of the best wrestlers on the entire WWE roster. He consistently has great matches, and he’s probably the most entertaining character they have.
[Featured Image by WWE]