The Festival of Friendship was seen at the time as one of the greatest segments in the history of WWE.
When Chris Jericho is inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Kevin Owens, as part of the video package, they should play the segment in its entirety.
The beginning is above, and the thrilling conclusion is below.
Watch it again. It's worth it.
The best part of all of that?
It came entirely from the mind of Chris Jericho.
No, seriously.
This amazing fact was divulged by Y2J during an interview with "The Other Guys" podcast, and the story included an anecdote about Jericho having to call a mid-flight Vince McMahon to fight for his vision, lest it be changed hours before airtime.
“I had that idea months earlier, to do a big spectacle with dancing girls and the whole thing, and then it was constantly being changed. Even the day of the show it was changed and I didn’t like it and I knew my way was better. I stood up for it, even to the point of calling Vince when he was on a plane in the middle of the air and pitching my case, not taking no for an answer, not allowing my vision to be changed.”
The inspiration for the segment came from an odd, yet somehow perfect place.
“The Red Wedding from Game Of Thrones was something that was really resonating, where you have this brilliant, beautiful and fun moment and then it just goes south in such a quick fashion where you can’t believe it. That, to me, was the brilliance of it.
“It was definitely one of my favorite things that I’ve done, maybe even the crowning jewel of what I’ve done in all these years being in the WWE."
And that, my friends, is saying something.
Listen to the entire interview with Jericho at this link.
