The Festival of Friendship was an inch-perfect severance to the uneasy union between Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho. A rare case of WWE's drawn-out comedy serving a grand purpose, the character-driven centrepiece of the February 13th 2017 edition of the show was a masterclass in performance nuance in keeping with months of narrative between the 'best friends'.
Every gift Jericho bestowed upon Owens was a gift to the crowd. The audience had deeply invested in the pair and were in on Owens' eventual turn weeks before Jericho himself. When professional wrestling has the opportunity to play with dramatic irony in such a way, the slow demise of a performer is a heartbreaking joy to watch.
Blind to his buddy's disdain, Jericho closed the segment by paying tribute to their tag team in a genuinely heartfelt tribute, before dramatically revealing the gift he'd received from his former companion. As Jericho barely had a second to register his name on a 'List of KO' before Owens struck, viciously beating him down with a powerbomb on the apron, before smashing him through the Jeritron screen has 'Y2J' himself had done to Shawn Michaels almost a decade earlier.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
