10 PPV Main Events WWE Sacrificed For Part-Time World Champions
4. Kevin Owens (C) Vs. Chris Jericho - WrestleMania 33
What a weird time 2017 was for WWE fans.
Putting aside WWE Champion Jinder Mahal, which was a can of worms all its own, the course of events that transpired on Monday Night RAW's main event scene from August 2016 to April 2017 was dizzying to say the least.
To summarize, Kevin Owens became the new WWE Universal Champion in the wake of Finn Bálor's torn labrum at SummerSlam to an overwhelmingly positive reception, Chris Jericho became an ally and arguably Owens' most loyal friend to this point in his career. Meanwhile on the other end of the spectrum Goldberg repeatedly tore through longtime adversary Brock Lesnar, often in less than two minutes per encounter. Around February 2017, Goldberg decided he wanted another championship match and stop me if you've heard this one before. Granted, the Festival of Friendship was one of the funniest and simultaneously most heartbreaking segments of the last decade, but was losing the Universal Championship in 22 seconds right before WrestleMania really worth it?
In this scenario, the split between Owens and Jericho still happens, but the match at WrestleMania is for the Universal Championship, not the belt that WWE has made abundantly clear is their least important singles title. Lesnar and Goldberg can still have their five-minute demolition derby at WrestleMania 33, but the belt doesn't need to be involved. Two of WWE's hardest-working full-timers in the year's most organically-built feud fight for the big red strap and a promising career need not be banished to purgatory.