WWE: Could Chris Jericho Take Money in the Bank from Dolph Ziggler?

Two-and-a-half weeks ago, the Internet nearly imploded. 

Dolph Ziggler ripped Chris Jericho for failing to win even just one pay-per-view match since his return, and Jericho then nailed Ziggler with the Codebreaker, seemingly turning baby face and kicking off a feud that has wrestling fans everywhere drooling. 

The animosity between Jericho and Ziggler has continued to grow ever since that night, but it’s what “The Showoff” first told Y2J that could ultimately be at the center of this feud. 

Ziggler openly criticized Jericho for failing to win his Money in the Bank match at the pay-per-view, despite the fact that Jericho is credited with the invention of the bout. 

There has been no mention of Jericho’s failures to win MITB since then, but you have to think that the coveted briefcase will play a major part in this rivalry going forward. 

Ziggler has made a habit out of teasing that he will cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Sheamus, while Jericho—although he hasn’t come right out and said it—has made it pretty clear that he wants to prevent that from happening. 

On last week’s SmackDown, with Ziggler teasing a possible cash-in after Sheamus’ match with Cody Rhodes, Y2J threw Ziggler to the wolves when he tossed a retreating Ziggler in the ring so that Sheamus could level him with a Brogue Kick. 

It will be interesting to see if that Money in the Bank briefcase ends up being more than just something that Ziggler has—if it will become something that Jericho wants. 

I think it will be. 

After Jericho nailed Ziggler with a Codebreaker on last week’s SmackDown, Ziggler returned the favor by blasting Jericho with the briefcase after their tag team encounter on this week’s Raw. 

Maybe I’m giving the WWE too much credit here, but I found that to be pretty symbolic. 

Ziggler could have nailed Jericho with the Zig Zag. Instead, he destroyed Jericho with a huge shot to the head…using the briefcase—the same briefcase that has eluded Jericho for his entire career, the same briefcase that Jericho still wants. 

It only makes sense for what is shaping up to be a great rivalry between these two to be about more than just who’s better than whom. 

It has to involve the Money in the Bank briefcase. Has to. 

With Ziggler using the briefcase as a weapon and rubbing the fact that he has it in Jericho’s face, Jericho needs to challenge Ziggler to put his money where his mouth is. Better yet, he needs to dare Ziggler to put his Money in the Bank briefcase on the line. 

Should this match happen, it should be at SummerSlam. 

Perhaps Ziggler refuses to put the briefcase on the line at first (to get heat, of course), but like with the storyline between Triple H and Brock Lesnar, Y2J will goad Ziggler into doing just that. 

The match takes place at SummerSlam, and Ziggler risks losing his briefcase to prove that “The Showoff” is better than the “Best in the World.” 

I not only think this stipulation should happen—I think it will. At some point or another, Ziggler will put the briefcase on the line, even it’s not at SummerSlam. 

But no matter when it happens, under no circumstances should Jericho actually win the briefcase from Ziggler. 

While I agree that it would be fun to see Jericho finally win the briefcase that has eluded him for his entire career, this isn’t about Jericho. It’s about Ziggler. 

Jericho is in his early 40s and probably doesn’t have much time left in the ring. Meanwhile, Ziggler is only 32 years old, has never had a real World title reign and looks poised to be one of the WWE’s biggest stars for the next five to 10 years. 

The WWE has put its veterans over up-and-comers enough in the past. It’s time for it to stop. 

Having Ziggler put the briefcase on the line at some point is fine and, in fact, should happen. 

But actually having him lose it shouldn’t even be a real possibility.

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.