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

The stage is set and it seems as if the majority of the WWE community has no idea it’s coming.

Chris Jericho is going to win the 2012 Royal Rumble and his silence is the largest indicator why.

Ever since his infamous 1/02/12 appearance that featured a fired up Jericho smiling at the crowd but not uttering a word, the executives behind the scenes were already crafting the story.

Y2J, who has been MIA for the better part of two years, needs one last huge win to solidify his place among the all-time greats of the sport. What better way to do so than by dominating all of the new blood that has seemingly flooded the rings of late at the Royal Rumble?

Jericho, Cena and the Rock are just a few wrestlers who represent an era in wrestling that fans hold near and dear to their hearts. Now, with the emergence of young guns like CM Punk and Zack Ryder, I’m beginning to get a sense there is a changing of the guard in the sport.

Now is the perfect time to remind fans of that golden era and bring Jericho back with a bang to have him extinguish the competition with ease before it’s just Y2J and Punk (remember, WWE told us anyone might wrestle in the Royal Rumble) remaining.

The epicness of that ensuing battle would be enough to cause any causal fan to go ballistic. The changing of the guard would be on the line and a dominate performance by Jericho would be a message to the young guys that they aren’t going to just be handed the keys to the WWE.

You have to earn it and going through a guy like Jericho is the way it should be. Upon winning the Rumble, Jericho can enjoy a few months on top before the inevitable moment where he turns heel and slowly fades out of our collective consciousness again.

If the WWE is smart, they need to make sure Jericho survives to the finish and knocks off the young Punk and the rest of the new guys to make a statement. 

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