10 Most Shocking WWE Revelations Ever
6. Friends Close, Enemies Closer
An inch-perfect severance to the uncomfortable union between Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho, the Festival of Friendship was a rare rare case of WWE's drawn-out comedy serving a very, very grand purpose. A character-heavy centrepiece of a February 2017 edition of Raw, the in-ring segment was a masterclass in nuance and leaning on the well-crafted narrative between the 'best friends'.
Every gift Jericho bestowed upon Owens was, in reality, a gift to the crowd. Deep investment in the pair had allowed the audience to get in on Owens' eventual turn weeks before Jericho himself. The dramatic irony begat heartbreaking joy.
The giddy Jericho threw himself into the skit with absurd abanon, decking himself out in wonderfully gaudy attire whilst presenting an expensive sculpture, a p*ss-funny reimagining of 'The Creation of Adam', a magician called 'Friendship' that regurgitated scarves to the disinterested and irritated Owens.
Blind to the disdain, Jericho closed the segment by paying tribute to their tag team before dramatically revealing the gift that tore the two apart. As Jericho saw his name on a 'List of KO', he barely had a second to digest the crushing reality before Owens struck. In a cultured addition to the assault, the United States Champion was smashed through the same Jeritron screen 'Y2J' had painted in Shawn Michaels' blood almost a decade earlier.