Chris Jericho: Why His Attack on CM Punk Was Necessary on Raw

I thought we were going to get an amazing match between CM Punk and Daniel Bryan on Raw. What we saw was what Michael Cole stated, "A Hall of Fame-caliber match."

But what we also saw was the "Beginning of the End" by Chris Jericho with his attack on CM Punk during the match.

Huge matches call for huge surprises, and we certainly caught on with the "known secret" that at some point Jericho and Punk would lock horns.

But did it have to happen when we were seeing a highlight reel in the making?

In this case, Jericho's actions did speak louder than words. And it sets up nicely for the Elimination Chamber match that is coming on PPV February 19.

Jericho's return to the WWE was cemented and headed for a showdown with Punk when it was discussed some weeks ago that the current WWE Champion could not improve ratings.

Now that he is involved in an angle with Jericho, who is one of the most charismatic wrestlers to ever set foot in a WWE ring, the guarantee of improved ratings happened when the former unified champion used a Code Breaker on Punk's face after he moved Daniel Bryan to the floor of the ringside area.

Personally, I love this move. WWE did everything it could to correct the errors of Sunday's Royal Rumble (there were many of them throughout the night). Now, John Cena does not need to be relevant. Punk, Jericho, Kofi Kingston (who appears to be getting a push), Sheamus and The Miz all appear to be on their way to bigger things in 2012.

Jericho/Punk could be Roddy Piper and Randy Savage from the 1980s. While they did not face each other, the idea of two charismatic individuals in the ring together could only mean magic. And it would be better than Jericho and Shawn Michaels.

Jericho's vengeance also sends a message to the wrestling world that in order to have a true champion, someone like Punk, or any other WWE star, will have to go through him to retain their place in the championship pool.