10 Best WWE Segments Of 2017 (So Far)
1. The Festival Of Friendship
The Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens bromance was entertaining in places, even if it had a distinctly midcard flavour. The problem is that WWE is often even worse in the autumn months than it is in the post-WrestleMania season.
It was always going to lead to a WrestleMania match. WWE was never going to put the Universal Title on Seth Rollins nor Roman Reigns; their WrestleMania programmes were already tuned in. This meant that every post-SummerSlam pay-per-view ended in a cheap finish of some description, generating entirely the wrong strand of heat for an act that already sought pops with their comedic leanings. The double act doubled down on ineffectiveness.
The heartbreak yielded by the break-up made the months of yawn-inducing f*ck finishes worth it.
Jericho's performance on the February 13 RAW was sensational. He was delighted at the cornball Festival of Friendship he concocted, a high-camp and hilarious parade of gift-giving and magic tricks. He sold it with complete earnestness. Owens, meanwhile, let the mask of patience slip as if his face was in a time lapse state of flux. Jericho toned down the comedy at precisely the correct time; he practically broke the fourth wall when he conveyed to Owens that this was the most fun he'd had throughout his storied and lengthy career - which made the brutal fallout all the more devastating.
Owens added his name to his own List and, in a fantastic call back, smashed Jericho's face through the Jeritron.
This is what WWE excels at - a range of emotion no wrestling company before or since has the ability to blend.