WWE Royal Rumble 2017: 5 Mistakes the Company Must Avoid
By Adam O'Brien
WWE.com
3. Chris Jericho is the Real MVP in the Championship Match
It seems like an eternity ago that Kevin Owens finally received his moment of gratification in the WWE, when he defeated Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Big Cass to become the second-ever WWE Universal Championship back in August.
Owens had stepped forward throughout the previous year and a half to stake his claim as one of the single-most entertaining members of the WWE roster, putting on impeccable matches and delivering exquisite promos with each performance.
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However, since reaching the brass ring and proclaiming Monday Night Raw as “The Kevin Owens Show”, there has been one constant always backing Owens up and, quite frankly, making him look like he can’t get the job done by himself – Chris Jericho.
The developing relationship of Team Kevin & Chris has made for some of the most consistently hilarious segments over the last half-year, but it’s allowed Owens’ credibility as a singles competitor to slowly diminish – seeing as how he always looks like he’s on the verge of losing the championship until Jericho rears his head.
It’s been the same story at Clash of Champions, Hell in a Cell and Roadblock: End of the Line; Chris Jericho steals the main event regardless of his position on the card, and it’s very likely to happen again at the Royal Rumble.
Acknowledging the ridiculousness of Jericho’s constant interference, Mick Foley has opted to suspend Chris Jericho in a shark cage above the ring during Kevin Owens’ title defense against Roman Reigns at the Rumble, and while this will surely make for some funny moments, it would actually be more rewarding for Kevin Owens to take this opportunity to prove himself as a worthy champion without Jericho by his side.
It feels like we have been gearing up to see Jericho and Owens’ relationship implode for a while now – potentially resulting in a match for the championship if we’re lucky enough – and if we’re going to get that with Jericho as the babyface and Owens as the heel, then “The Prizefighter” will need to have momentum on his side.
His rivalry with Sami Zayn was based on Owens believing himself better than his former best friend, but he won’t be able to keep that reasoning to betray Jericho if the statistics show that Owens’ only victories came as a result of Y2J.
Of course, being trapped in a shark cage doesn’t render Chris Jericho useless – just watch The Authors of Pain vs. TM-61 at NXT TakeOver: Toronto and you’ll see that it’s very easy to smuggle in a weapon. But by and large, Owens is in desperate need of a strong solo performance without Jericho hogging the limelight, especially considering he’ll have plenty of time to do so later in the Royal Rumble match.