This year’s Festival of Friendship between Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens is arguably the best segment on WWE television in the last ten years. It had everything you could ever want in a sports entertainment segment. There were laughs, cameos, nostalgia, excitement, drama, and more!
And it was all Chris Jericho’s idea.
Speaking on the Squared Circle Pit podcast, Jericho talked about how the Festival of Friendship became the most entertaining segment of the year.
“I came up with it and then everyone puts in their ideas.
“I knew from the start that it would have Showgirls, it would have Friendship The Magician, I don’t know who came up with the Creation of Kevin, that poster. Vince’s one contribution was that he wanted the statue. The intertwined Guggenheim.
“What I wanted was to start as a David Lee Roth video from the 80s and turn into The Red Wedding from Game of Thrones.”
Jericho continued by saying that he wanted the idea to be over the top to start because he knew the payoff. However, the finale almost didn’t go down the way we saw on television.
“There actually a big debate. (The finish) was approved by Vince (McMahon), but Vince wasn’t there that week. When he’s not there, everyone has their opinions. I was told, ‘Kevin is just gonna attack you.’ I was like, ‘No, that’s what Vince and I discussed.’ ‘Well, it’s going to be too much comedy if you have The List of Owens.’ ‘Not the way I’m gonna play it.’ It’s not comedy if you don’t play it as comedy.”
Jericho finished by calling it one of his favorite segments that he’s been involved in.
“The subtleties in that bit are one of the reasons that, to me, it was one of the best things that I’ve ever done. It was very layered. It was very intricate. I knew exactly what I wanted from it, but no one else saw it coming until it happened.”
Hopefully Owens’ new best friend, Sami Zayn, learns from Jericho’s mistakes.
