WrestleMania 28: Chris Jericho Must Leave Miami As WWE Champion

As much as WrestleMania can be a platform for creating new stars and solidifying stars on the rise, it can also be the ultimate vehicle for furthering a feud. That should be the case on Sunday as Chris Jericho must defeat CM Punk for the WWE Championship in order to keep their feud alive and well.

Most probably view WrestleMania as the ultimate exclamation point to a feud, but the Punk vs. Jericho rivalry is still in its infancy and needs more time to blossom. To this point, I feel as though the feud between Punk and Jericho has been the most entertaining and compelling on the road to WrestleMania and I'd bet most fans aren't ready for it to end.

Jericho has gotten the better of Punk in recent weeks as he has dug up Punk's family secrets and caused Punk to lose his cool. At the same time, though, Punk has basically won the feud in the ring as he was victorious at Elimination Chamber while Jericho was eliminated due to "injury."

If Punk wins at WrestleMania XXVIII, it will give him the signature win he has been looking for aside from defeating John Cena at Money in the Bank, and it would also help cement his place in the company as the No. 2 guy behind Cena, if he isn't there already.

While that's all well and good, having Punk win lacks foresight. With Jericho seemingly sticking around for at least a while longer, there needs to be some sort of incentive for the feud to continue. Punk winning wouldn't further anything, but Jericho taking the title would suddenly make things a lot more interesting.

Punk continues to call himself the best wrestler in the world, and while Jericho could have staked claim to that title at some point during his career, he has done nothing during this feud to take that designation away from Punk. Winning the WWE Championship would, however, and it would force Punk to face some adversity in order to regain his distinction.

As much as I have enjoyed Punk, since regaining the WWE Championship from Alberto Del Rio at Survivor Series, he has been like Cena 2.0 in a lot of ways as he has overcome impossible situations and always finds a way to come out on top regardless of how much the odds are stacked against him.

Punk losing to Jericho at WrestleMania would have shock value and it would test the mettle of Punk for the first time since he got his title back. Jericho is undoubtedly a real threat, but he has yet to be made to look like one. The only way that can come to fruition is if he is given a win over Punk on the grandest stage of them all.

I find that, too often, the obvious thing happens in WWE. While that isn't always a bad thing necessarily, it never hurts to mix things up a bit. You could argue that a loss to Jericho will hurt Punk's credibility, but Jericho is already a legend in the business. Punk will get the last laugh in the feud ultimately, however, Jericho should be allowed to strike first blood.