10 Wrestlers Who Became World Champions At The WRONG Time
2. Chris Jericho
Speaking of McMahon, he left Chris Jericho depressed before his big night at Vengeance 2001 by joking to The Undertaker that business must be in the toilet if they were putting the belt on 'Y2J'. How's that for a vote of confidence from the guy in charge? Jericho's head had to be swimming with self-doubt.
There was some truth to what Vince was saying, unfortunately. The WWF was in a state of flux post-invasion angle ending, and Triple H was just about to launch his return. He was the big hope to turn things around again, not Jericho. That meant the Canadian star's double win over The Rock and Steve Austin was tainted before it even happened.
Remember, timing is everything.
McMahon wasn't going all in on turning Jericho from upper midcarder into main event made man. Therein lies the problem - Jericho was a placeholder as Undisputed Champion until Triple H could return and beat him at WrestleMania X8. Everyone knew that was coming as soon as Hunter popped Madison Square Garden in January.
It'd be back to the midcard for Jericho after a middling three-month reign.