WWE Money in the Bank 2012: 7 Reasons Why Y2J Will Win Championship MITB Match

This Sunday at Money in the Bank, we will witness a Money in the Bank match that is the first of its kind.

Four former WWE Champions—Big Show, John Cena, Chris Jericho and Kane--will compete for a future WWE title shot in an MITB match that is the first in history to feature just four competitors and the first in history to exclusively feature World champions.

With such a small number of participants in this match, many wrestling fans have established their favorites.

For the most part, Big Show and John Cena (by a country mile) seem to be the two most common picks to walk away with that coveted briefcase.

But what if someone else wins that match on Sunday? Someone like Chris Jericho.

Here are seven reasons why Jericho will will win the WWE Championship Contract Money in the Bank Ladder match.

7. He Invented the MITB Match but Has Never Won It

Maybe this means nothing, but maybe it means something.

In both the kayfabe sense and actuality, Chris Jericho is credited with the invention of the Money in the Bank Ladder match.

Yet, oddly enough, he has yet to win any of the the three previous MITB matches in which he's participated.

I can't be the only one who thinks that's weird, can I?

Jericho inventing the Money in the Bank match and failing to ever win it would be like the inventor of Pop Tarts never eating one.

While I wouldn't be shocked to see Jericho go his entire WWE career without winning a match that he invented, it would seem very fitting for the man who invented a popular ladder match and revolutionized it to win that briefcase.

I'm just saying.

6. His Pay-Per-View Losing Streak

Chris Jericho returned to the WWE on Jan. 2, 2012, and since then, he's competed in five pay-per-view matches, four of them involving a World title.

And guess what? He's lost every single one of those matches.

Y2J was the last person eliminated in the Royal Rumble. He lost the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship. He lost two WWE title matches against CM Punk at WrestleMania 28 and Extreme Rules, and he lost a Fatal 4-Way for the World Heavyweight Championship at Over the Limit.

That's a ridiculous amount of pay-per-view losses, especially when you consider that Jericho has still failed to pick up a PPV win since his return.

Every time that he loses a PPV match now, I can't help but think that his PPV losing streak has to end at some point.

Jericho has always been great in that he can stay over no matter how many times he loses, but he's gotta pick up that elusive PPV win eventually.

Right?

5. His Promise to 'End the World as We Know It'

When Chris Jericho returned to the WWE earlier this year, he vowed that it would be "the end of the world as you know it."

Presumably, what he meant by that was that he would eventually become World champion.

Yet, here we are seven months later, and Jericho—even though he's had four opportunities to do so—has failed to become WWE or World heavyweight champion.

In that sense, he has failed to live up to his vow to "end the world" so far.

Whenever I think about that promise that Y2J made, I don't see him failing to live up to that promise in the long run.

Y2J will "end the world as we know it," and he will do so by winning a World title.

What better way to do that than by winning the Money in the Bank briefcase first?

4. As a Veteran, He Deserves One Last World Title Run

The WWE has recently made a habit of giving established veterans runs with the World title.

We saw it twice in 2011, when Christian (on two occasions) and Mark Henry won the World Heavyweight Championship, and even The Big Show won the belt once as well, although his reign lasted just 45 seconds.

It seems that the WWE, for whatever reason, has had no problem putting the World title on someone who's been around for a while.

While we can't be sure of this, I think this has happened mainly for two reasons: Roster depth issues, and as a sort of "thank you for all your years of service" lifetime achievement award.

Now, if Christian and Henry can get that "one last run at the top" as World champion, then Chris Jericho is probably even more deserving of that nostalgic title reign.

Y2J is a sure-fire Hall of Famer and one of the most decorated champions in pro wrestling history.

If any wrestler who's nearing the end of his career should get one last run with the strap, it's Jericho.

3. His Feud with CM Punk Never Got Any Real Closure

You could say that the feud between Chris Jericho and CM Punk ended simply because Punk beat Jericho for the second straight pay-per-view at Extreme Rules.

But I've always felt like we never got any real closure to the Punk/Jericho rivalry.

At least to me, it kind of seemed to just randomly end out of the blue following Extreme Rules.

While I get that Jericho had lost to Punk twice, there was still some animosity left between the two that (like with Christian and Randy Orton in 2011) I think warranted a third and perhaps fourth PPV match, regardless of the outcomes the previous ones.

So, now that Jericho is heading to the WWE Title Contract MITB match, and Punk is going to defend his WWE title at the same PPV, the stage is set for a "reunion" and one last battle between the two.

A hypothetical situation I've run through my head a thousand times: Jericho wins MITB, Punk beats Daniel Bryan and then Jericho cashes in on Punk at MITB to become the new WWE champion.

Then, the WWE builds to a final encounter between the two at SummerSlam, with a better story of the baby face Punk chasing the heel champion, Jericho.

Something to think about...

2. The WWE Has Teased a Face Turn and Feud with Daniel Bryan

I realize that the Money in the Bank briefcase can be held for up to a year, but if Chris Jericho wins it, he's got two potential feuds lined up for him right away.

There's the CM Punk feud that I mentioned in the last slide, and then there's a potentially epic rivalry with Daniel Bryan.

On last week's Raw, the WWE teased some friction between Bryan and Jericho, and at the same time, teased a potential face turn for Jericho.

This could all be nothing more than just that (a tease), but should Bryan win the WWE title at Money in the Bank or even down the road, the idea of a Bryan/Jericho feud has to sound really good to WWE officials.

Bryan is over big time, so is Jericho, and the two could put on a fantastic rivalry that's filled with equally fantastic matches.

A lot of dominoes have to fall in place for this to happen, but with the recent interaction between Jericho and Bryan, you have to think that it's a possibility, no matter how remote.

1. A Jericho Win Would Be a Major Swerve

John Cena is rumored to be in line for a WWE Championship match against CM Punk at SummerSlam and a spot in the WWE title picture for the remainder of 2012, according to F4WOnline (via WrestlingInc.com).

Meanwhile, Big Show is also rumored to be headed for a WWE title match against Punk at SummerSlam, according to F4WOnline (via WrestlingFeed.com).

And we all know what happens when the WWE's creative plans leak out onto the Internet, right?

They change.

Vince McMahon is notorious for changing creative plans just to swerve the fans, and there's no doubt that having Chris Jericho win the Money in the Bank match would be a major swerve.

Most fans expect Cena to win it, many expect Big Show to emerge victorious, and some are even picking Kane.

But how many are actually expecting Y2J to win it? Not many, that's for sure.

Of all the names involved in this match, Jericho has the lowest expectations, and that's precisely what makes him the most dangerous man in the match.

If Vince wants to pull one of his classic swerves, then Jericho is going to walk away with that briefcase. You can bet your bottom dollar on that.

Drake Oz is a WWE Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions on Formspring.