What’s the story?
On a recent episode of the Baby Huey and Bimbo Jimbo on The Other Guys Podcast, former WWE Superstar Chris Jericho discussed his partnership with Kevin Owens and the creation of the festival of friendship angle for Monday Night Raw.
The background
On Monday Night Raw from August 2016 to February 2017, one of the highlights of the night was the friendship between Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho. Their ring work, catch phrases, and banter was some of the best of their respective careers.
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One of the best angles of their storyline was the “Festival of Friendship”, hosted by Chris Jericho in order to cheer Kevin Owens up about his WWE Universal Championship match against Goldberg at Fastlane. During this segment, Owens turned on Jericho ending their on screen friendship and beginning a feud that would culminate in a United States title match at WrestleMania 33, which Owens won, and two other matches before Jericho would leave to tour with his band Fozzy.
The heart of the matter
In the interview, Jericho stated that the idea for the festival of friendship was in a constant state of flux, continuously being adjusted and changed up until the day of the show. Jericho goes on to discuss the changes that occurred on the day of the show, and how he did not agree with them. He explains that he went so far as to call Vince McMahon himself to plead his case and return the segment to his original vision.
Also during the interview, Jericho proclaimed how much he loved what he and Owens were able to create with their storyline, even ranking the festival of friendship segment as his most favourite moment in his entire WWE career.
“It was definitely one of my favourite things that I’ve done, maybe even the crowning jewel of what I’ve done in all these years being the WWE.”
What’s next?
Kevin Owens is in the midst of a feud with SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon, while Chris Jericho is on another hiatus from WWE to tour with Fozzy.
Author’s take
The festival of friendship is one of those highlight moments that will make all the video packages related to the best of WWE in 2017. A lot of the praise must go to the chemistry between Owens and Jericho as it takes a lot more than just being put on TV with somebody to make it work.
Jericho did what he does best, make other people look good, while also showcasing himself and his abilities. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for Jericho to pop back up in the WWE.
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