The Road to WWE WrestleMania 33: The build-up so far

#10 Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens – United States Championship

Best friends turned bitter enemies

Jeri-KO was one of the best partnerships in the world, and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house when the friendship came to an end. It was the Festival of Friendship that was the start of the rivalry between Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho, and the two will now go head to head for the United States Championship at WrestleMania.

It was the Kevin Owens show on Raw. He was the Universal Champion, and Chris Jericho was the United States Champion. Several times in the past, a split between the two teams had been teased but never executed. However, cracks in the friendship were beginning to show, especially when Chris Jericho accepted a match against Goldberg for the WWE Universal Championship on Kevin Owens’ behalf.

To make up for his hasty actions, Y2J put on a massive ‘Festival of Friendship’ on the Vegas episode of Raw. In one of the best segments on Raw in a long time, Jericho lavished Owens with gifts and even had ‘Friendship’ the magician perform some tricks.

Jericho was gifted a new list, only to find that his name was actually on it and Kevin Owens had finally had enough of the Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla. He beat down Jericho viciously, smashing his head into the flat-screen TV that was part of the set.

Owens then went one-on-one with Goldberg at Fastlane. Jericho handed Goldberg the assist and distracted his former best friend. Owens lost the Universal Championship in record time following a spear and a jackhammer from The Myth, Goldberg.

Putting his rematch for the Universal Championship on hold, Kevin Owens vowed to take Chris Jericho’s United States Championship from him at WrestleMania. This week, he continued the rivalry as he attacked Jericho from behind during another edition of the Highlight Reel.

This match has the potential to steal the show. We’ve only seen Jericho be beaten down so far, so the anticipation to see them have a proper fight is high. I can’t help but feel that this should have been for the Universal Championship, but I’m happy to see this match as it has the gravity a WrestleMania match needs.