Undisputed Afterthought

   After the "Invasion" angle ended at the 2001 Survivor Series, with the WWF walking away the victor, there was one more piece of the puzzle left.  There was to be a unification of the WWF and WCW World Titles at Vengeance in December.  Two matches were set up: The Rock vs. Chris Jericho for the WCW Title, and Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle for the WWF Title.  The winners of each Championship match would face off in the main event of Vengeance to decide the Undisputed WWF World Heavyweight Champion.  

   The heavy favorites to win were likely Austin and The Rock, although one could make a case for Angle as well.  At this point in time, not many people pegged Jericho as having a fighting chance.  In April of 2000, it looked like Jericho had defeated Triple H for the WWF Title, only for The Game to make the referee reverse the decision.  It was a big tease and after that, many fans assumed Jericho would never get a real chance.  Vengeance 2001 changed all that, at least on that night!  Jericho defeated The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in the same night, to become the new Undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion!  The underdog Jericho did it!  

   His reign started out just fine.  Jericho retained the Title over The Rock at the 2002 Royal Rumble.  Meanwhile, later that night, Triple H made his triumphant return and won the Royal Rumble match, punching his ticket to WrestleMania.  At No Way Out in February, Jericho retained over Steve Austin due to inference by the nWo.  The official main event for WrestleMania was now set with Chris Jericho defending the Undisputed Title against Triple H.  Under normal circumstances, this would be exciting.  However, bad booking ruined this match.  Not only that, it had the unenviable task of following The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan.  Upon Triple H's return, he turned on and got divorced from his storyline (and now real life) wife Stephanie McMahon.  Stephanie then turned her attention to WWF Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho and would be in his corner at WrestleMania.

   Unfortunately, this is where Jericho, the freakin' Undisputed Champion of all things, became an afterthought. The story revolved more around the Triple H/Stephanie divorce than anything else, and Jericho was just a prop. Stephanie got custody of their dog Lucy, which upset Triple H.  Stephanie then made Jericho take care of the dog, picking up after it and such.  Unfortunately for Lucy, Jericho accidentally ran her over.  Poor Lucy!  All of these petty things came to the forefront, even though Jericho's Undisputed Title was at stake.  When it comes to a Championship match, the feud should always be about the Championship, the Champion, and the Challenger.  Other things can be added but should not take precedence over the important factors.  At WrestleMania, Triple H defeated Jericho to win the Title in a good but forgettable match.  After the spectacle that was Rock/Hogan, not much after that mattered.  However, I'm a stickler for the Royal Rumble winner and the Champion's match being the main event at WrestleMania no matter what or how big other matches are.

   If this storyline had to happen, I would have preferred the match not main event WrestleMania. However, in order for that to happen, both the Champion and challenger would have to be different.  I need to mention what actually happened before I get to how I would change things.  The Survivor Series outcome went to the WWF because it turned out Kurt Angle was a double agent all along, turning on Alliance leader Stone Cold Steve Austin.  The next night on Raw saw two things happen. One was Austin turning babyface once again due to the double-cross by Angle and Angle's partnership with Vince McMahon.  The other was Ric Flair returned and informed McMahon that he was the consortium that bought the WWF stock that both Shane and Stephanie McMahon owned, making him half owner of the WWF with McMahon.  

   Here's my scenario!  The night after Survivor Series, I'd keep the Flair thing and the Austin turn but Angle would still be WWF Champion.  On this night, a still babyface Chris Jericho would defeat Angle to become the WWF Champion, setting up Angle's match with Austin, who at that point I would have as the WCW Champion.  Meanwhile, Jericho would defend his newly won Title against The Rock.  Jericho would still go on to make history at Vengeance by defeating both Rock and Austin in the same night to become the Undisputed Champion.  Now we go to the Royal Rumble, in which I have The Rock winning it.  Also that night was a match between the two owners Vince McMahon and Ric Flair.  Flair won and a distraught McMahon felt that Flair was trying to destroy his creation, the WWF.  McMahon appeared quite off and declared that if anyone was to kill his creation, it would he him...and the nWo.  

   Here's what I would have done differently!  I'd have a stipulation for the Flair/McMahon match where if Vince won, he would get full ownership and if Flair won, he would get a Title shot at No Way Out 2002.  Since Vince brought the nWo to the WWF to kill it, he would unleash the trio of Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash onto the WWF superstars.  Since Vince still had half ownership, he would appoint Hogan to be added to the Title match between Jericho and Flair, making it a Triple Threat Match.  Hogan would pin Flair to win his sixth WWF Title.  I would then turn Jericho into a whiny heel, angry about losing the Title without being pinned, and then put him into his program with Triple H.  Meanwhile, the next night on Raw, they set up the Rock/Hogan WrestleMania match that would now be for the Undisputed Title in the main event.

   It was going to be hard enough to follow a match the caliber of Rock/Hogan.  There was no reason for the Jericho/Triple H rivalry over the WWF Title to be overshadowed by a lover's quarrel.  If you're going to take Jericho and make him the focus of the company as the first Undisputed WWF World Heavyweight Champion, then you must have him take center stage.  Otherwise, take the Title off him before WrestleMania so the main event can be focused on fully.  Also, since the very idea of Rock/Hogan was so huge, this might have been the way to go in the first place.  The bottom line is, I feel Chris Jericho was not given the platform to succeed and was cheated.

   Fortunately, Chris Jericho is the best at what he does.  No matter the obstacle, no matter the challenge, Jericho has always risen above.  Time and time again Chris Jericho has reinvented himself.  Lion Heart, Y2J, The Ayatollah of Rock n' Rolla, one bad mamajama, whatever you want to call him.  We can all be thankful of the Gift of Jericho.  Drink it in, maaaaaaaan!




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