Royal Rumble 2012: Why Chris Jericho Must Win This Year's Rumble

When the Royal Rumble is over on Sunday, there can only be one winner. If that winner is anyone other than Chris Jericho, the WWE owes all of us an apology for an epic waste of time. 

Weeks of videos, speculation, false starts to promos (and even a match) and this is all we've got from Jericho:

If he doesn't win, all of that will be a massive waste. The WWE has spent too much time building up Jericho while giving us very little to have him do anything other than be in the main event of Wrestlemania. That kind of anticipation is not going to provide a payoff for some upper-midcard bout. 

It is disproportionate hype for such a small match. 

On the other hand, if you put him into a main event match with a guy like CM Punk, you have two men who have the mic skills (and in-ring talent) to give the fans an absolute show. In Punk, you have a guy who will call out Jericho for some of those "promos," and a guy who has the skills to stay with Jericho once he gets going.

While that logic is all still true with a non-main event feud, it doesn't come with anywhere near the same kind of backing.

If the WWE gives this kind of attention to one man and does anything other than put him in the main event of the company's greatest showcase, it would be nothing short of an epic waste. 

Vince McMahon and his writers need to give everything a worthy payoff. As things stand now, Jericho's return has been a massive disappointment. However, I am willing to be patient, as long as my patience results in something good.

Something good does not just mean a good match at Wrestlemania, it means a few months worth of payoff. This isn't a matter of being a Jericho fan or not, this comes down to being a fan of the business and not wanting to see something interesting squashed. 

The only way to prevent this from being squashed is to give us Jericho in the main event at Wrestlemania. That starts with a Royal Rumble win.

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Photo courtesy of People.com.

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