Daily DDT
Fansided

What is the Purpose of Chris Jericho’s Latest WWE Return?

By Jordan Campbell

facebooktwitterreddit

Chris Jericho has become a regular on WWE programming once again but what is the purpose of his latest run with the company?

Royal Rumble and Chris Jericho’s return to the WWE. Those are two things that have become synonymous over the course of recent years as WWE has routinely brought Jericho back for one of their biggest pay-per view’s of the year.

That has been the case this year as Jericho returned on the first episode of Monday Night Raw in 2016. In his first night back, Jericho cut a promo on The New Day while announcing his entry into the Royal Rumble.

More wwe: WrestleMania 32 Card Projections 7.5

Since his return, Jericho has yet to compete. After combating words with The New Day for consecutive weeks, Jericho turned his attention to the feud between Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. Last night on Raw, Jericho acted as the special guest referee in Reigns’ match against Rusev. Later in the night, Jericho hosted the Highlight Reel with Reigns, Lesnar, and Paul Heyman as guests. The Highlight Reel quickly turned into a brawl between Lesnar and Reigns before The Wyatt Family ended the show by laying out both.

More from Daily DDT

Meanwhile, Jericho was no where to be seen. Once Reigns and Lesnar started brawling, Jericho left the ring. Even after The Wyatt Family entered the ring and attacked Lesnar and Reigns, Jericho remained absent. After Monday night, two questions arose.

The first question is why is WWE protecting Jericho?

It seems strange that Jericho made his return on January 4 and has yet to have any physical interaction with any superstar. During a time when WWE is without quality in-ring talent due to the injuries to Daniel Bryan, Seth Rollins, John Cena, Cesaro and Randy Orton, one would think they would ride Jericho’s in-ring talent upon his return. Instead, WWE has avoided any physical booking for Jericho and that could be due to the fact that company has important plans for Y2J.

That leads us to the second question. What is the purpose of Jericho’s return to the WWE?

More from WWE

When Jericho returns to WWE, it typically has been done so he can put over talent. Jericho is a master at putting over talent and that is proven in his past work with the likes of Bray Wyatt and Dolph Ziggler. So, who is Jericho going to put over with his current run?

The answer to that question could very well be Roman Reigns. WWE has successfully put Reigns over with the WWE universe over the course of the past month and they are looking for the final piece to their project. That piece could come in the form of Jericho winning the WWE World Heavyweight Title at the Royal Rumble. Ideally, this scenario would include Jericho turning heel during the Royal Rumble match on Sunday. Something like a “dirty” elimination of Reigns would undoubtedly transform Jericho from a face to a heel.

From there, Jericho would go on to win the championship. Following the Royal Rumble, Reigns, furious with Jericho, will be looking to invoke his rematch clause. After jumping over some Authority-endorsed hurdles, Reigns will get his rematch against Jericho at WWE Fastlane. This would be where Jericho puts over Reigns.

Fresh off a victory over Jericho and reclaiming the WWE World Heavyweight championship, Reigns would be ready for the main event of WrestleMania 32. A main event that could be Reigns versus Triple H.

Related Story: Three things that must happen at the Royal Rumble

Will Chris Jericho win the WWE title at the Royal Rumble? Sound off in the comments section below.

Home/WWE