WWE Raw: Examining The Best and The Worst of the Brand for 2017
By Bryan Heaton
Best Promo: Festival of Friendship, Feb. 13
The same night WWE Raw almost gave us their worst promo segment of the year with Emmalina, we were gifted with one of the greatest segments of the past ten years, easily. Everything about the Festival of Friendship was pure gold, and there are no two superstars who could have pulled it off quite like Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens.
In typical Las Vegas fashion, Jericho put together a way over the top celebration for his best friend in the world, Kevin Owens. Jericho was also trying to make up for the fact that he had accidentally accepted a Universal Title challenge by Goldberg on behalf of Owens. So there were no limits on what he did – Vegas showgirls! Artwork! Magicians! Presents!
Heck, Jericho even dragged out Gillberg – a lighter-than-a-cruiserweight parody of Goldberg – just so KO could beat him down. The segment lasted close to 20 minutes, if not longer, and it felt like it flew by. As bad as “Bayley, This is Your Life” was, this was twice as good.
Of course, the most painful betrayal of all at the end of the segment made all the good feelings disappear, but it truly enhanced everything. Jericho nailed the tone on, “Why is my name on this,” which hurt me as much as the first time I heard, “The Lannisters send their regards.” Truly amazing work from top to bottom.
Honorable Mention: Braun Strowman Moves An Ambulance, Apr. 10
Braun Strowman had so many great “promo” segments this year, if we consider a promo to simply be “a non-wrestling appearance.” Having such a variety to choose from makes it difficult to narrow down just one – and they’re almost all vehicle-related, too.
But I’d be remiss to ignore such a feat of strength as flipping a dang ambulance over with nothing but core strength from “best of 2017.” My biggest regret is skipping out on going to this episode – I was suffering WrestleMania travel hangover and just couldn’t bring myself to drive the 40 minutes to the Nassau Coliseum to see this live. I am shame.