Chris Jericho’s most recent return to the WWE came in January of this year when he confronted The New Day in a memorable promo. Ironically, Jericho’s latest match, 10 months later came against the very same New Day in a six-man tag that also included Seth Rollins and Braun Strowman. Had you told Jericho, or Vince McMahon for that matter, that Y2J would be in that match in November, neither would have believed it.
Jericho’s original full-time run with the WWE lasted from 1999 until 2005. He would take a two-year hiatus from the business before returning, and he has followed a similar pattern ever since. He has maintained a passion for the business, but his stints had started to become shorter and shorter due to his many commitments outside of professional wrestling.
More Details On Chris Jericho’s Altercation With Sin Cara, Jericho Responds To Reports https://t.co/8qQa6O8fY8 pic.twitter.com/UKQl1004P0
— Still Real To Us (@stillreal2us) November 7, 2016
That should have been the case again here in 2016. Jericho made a recent appearance on The LAW: Live Audio Wrestling , where he made a revelation that, now, could be considered somewhat surprising considering how things have gone for him in the WWE this year (thanks to Daily Wrestling News for the transcription).
“…I have a very close working relationship with Vince McMahon and neither one of us expected this. Both of us would like to sit back and think we were the be all, end all wise oracles that predicted this. I will tell you this, my original plan when I came back last January was to stay until WrestleMania, four months. Then, it started going so good, I re-signed I think until July and then I re-signed until October and then I re-signed until November. Now it’s basically a month by month thing.”
Realistically, Jericho is closer to the end than the beginning in terms of this particular run. And while that’s unfortunate considering the success he’s had recently, it’s quite astounding to think that the original plan was for him to leave right after WrestleMania in April.
At the time, there were several reports indicating that Chris would be departing from the WWE at the conclusion of his feud with Dean Ambrose. That would have been in line with Jericho’s admission that he signed through July. His only involvement at that month’s pay-per-view, Battleground , was hosting “The Highlight Reel” with Randy Orton, who had been announced as Brock Lesnar’s opponent at SummerSlam .
BREAKING NEWS: @WWE World Champion @AJStylesOrg JUST MADE THE LIST! #RAW @IAmJericho pic.twitter.com/W6GggUGexm
— WWE (@WWE) November 15, 2016
Fortunately, at some point along the line, Jericho crossed paths with Kevin Owens. The two were involved in the ladder match at Money in the Bank , and their on-screen relationship continued to grow, eventually leading to the two of them tagging together against Enzo & Big Cass at SummerSlam . Jericho revealed how that partnership originated and blossomed to where we sit it today.
“I think somehow we had some kind of a tag team match in London, just randomly, in London, England. At the end of it, Kevin ran and jumped in my arms and he went you’re the goat, I’m the donkey, something along those lines. Vince heard us going back and forth like I did it all by myself but Kevin helped and just little things he was saying and Vince was just laughing. I remember saying to him there’s something there between us, you know and he was like I agree so they started putting us together.”
Team #RAW has been summoned by @StephMcMahon ! @IAmJericho @FightOwensFight @WWERollins @WWERomanReigns @BraunStrowman pic.twitter.com/lqd6BBDeUQ
— WWE (@WWE) November 15, 2016
Jericho pointed out that he and Owens actually pitched a buddy-cup movie together to the head of WWE Films. They wanted that chemistry to expand beyond just a wrestling ring, but it hasn’t been green-lit just yet. He’s 10 to 15 years older than most of his WWE peers at the moment, but that’s who’s keeping him going and partly responsible for perhaps his greatest run since 2008. And a lot of the credit has to due with the other half of Jeri-KO.
“A lot of it what we do is improv, we have a really similar sense of humor, we have great timing with each other. We don’t even have to talk, we say things at the same time. I remember before Money in the Bank, I was the captain or something and I’m yelling at Del Rio and Owens is just like you better watch it. Owens is like watch what and that’s when I said it. That was all made up, it was just really funny stuff and then, after, I said I like that, I’m going to see if I can get the word it over and that’s another thing that ended up working out. So, when you’ve been in the business as long as I have, you know at certain times when you have that chemistry with somebody, you know? Work wise, I knew instantly I had it with The Rock, promo wise. I had it with Edge, I had it with Rey Mysterio, I had it with Shawn Michaels and I have it with Kevin Owens.”
Seeds have been planted for an eventual break-up between Jericho and Owens, but the fact that the two have been responsible for, arguably, the best segments on RAW each week makes it difficult to pull that trigger too quickly. Jericho alluded to the relationship he has with Vince McMahon, and the two have entrusted in each other to make the right decision on that front, even if it means extended Chris’ run.
Jericho has not been involved in a world title program since 2012 when he feuded with CM Punk. And even though the likelihood of him capturing the Universal Championship is slim, he’s certainly earned the right to contend for it, which will elevate Owens even further before Jericho steps away from the ring another time.
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