Examining Chris Jericho's Influence on WWE Money in the Bank, 2016 Chances

On June 19, World Wrestling Entertainment will present its latest Money in the Bank pay-per-view, and in the event's namesake match, Chris Jericho will attempt to climb a ladder and retrieve a briefcase that will net him a guaranteed WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at any time over the next year.

It would be the first victory for the future Hall of Famer in the bout.

Few Superstars in WWE history have had as much influence on the genesis of a specialty match as Jericho has had on the Money in the Bank ladder match.

Dating back to 2005, the contest has become one of the most popular in all of professional wrestling. The concept has been mimicked and blatantly ripped off by other promotions looking to cash in (pun intended) on its success.

To understand Jericho's importance in the history of the contest, one must hop in the DeLorean and travel back in time to the road to WrestleMania 21.

A "Money" Creation

One of the greatest, most spectacular gimmick bouts in WWE was born out of frustration and disappointment.

After a series of WrestleMania encounters that featured engaging and compelling stories, Jericho was disheartened by the complete lack of meaty material for him and his peers to sink their teeth into ahead of the 2005 event.

In his 2012 autobiography, Undisputed: How to Become the World Champion in 1,372 Easy Steps, Jericho recalled the steps he took to change that, starting with a phone call to head writer Brian Gewirtz and the proposition of a Hollywood Dream ladder match pitting Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Shelton Benjamin, Chris Benoit, Edge, Christian and Kane against one another.

"The concept of the match was that the winner would get his dream of anything he wanted fulfilled, which in turn would lead to RVD winning and bringing back ECW," he wrote.

"He told me that Vince thought the Hollywood Dream match was a stupid prize for the winner and wanted something else to be at stake. We kibitzed for a few minutes until I suggested, 'Why don't we make the match for a contract that guarantees a title shot the next night on Raw?'"

Jericho was on to something. A championship opportunity, at least in the confines of professional wrestling, was more significant and prestigious than a personal dream to bring back dead entities or achieve personal wealth.

Gewirtz would chime in with the stipulation that captured fans' attentions and helped establish the Money in the Bank concept as fresh, exciting and unpredictable: "Brian took it one step further and proposed that the contract would be valid for one whole year and could be used at any time. Vince approved with his sole modification being that the contract had to be in a briefcase, and the Money in the Bank match was born."

Not only did Jericho have his hands in the creation of the match behind the scenes, he was the Superstar chosen by McMahon and WWE Creative to pitch it on the air to then-Raw general manager Eric Bischoff, who officially announced the bout on the March 7 episode of Raw in 2005.

In the segment in which the match was officially announced, Jericho was appropriately credited with the idea that sparked one of the greatest stipulation-based gimmick matches in company history.

A Losing Record

As influential as he was in the creation of the match, Jericho's record in the Money in the Bank match is anything but sparkling.

The inaugural match heavily featured Benoit, Edge and Benjamin, while Jericho was essentially a background player in his own creation. The Rated-R Superstar would go on to win the match, while Jericho was essentially a footnote in history.

Three years later, fresh off an underwhelming return to the company after a two-year layoff, Jericho once again competed in the match.

This time, he played a much bigger role in the outcome of the match. With tens of thousands cheering him on, he came within arm's reach of retrieving the briefcase only to have CM Punk trap his legs in the rungs of the ladder, costing him the opportunity to enjoy victory on the grandest stage in pro wrestling.

In 2010 and 2012, Jericho battled some of the top stars in the industry, including John Cena, Randy Orton, Big Show and the aforementioned Edge. With so many elite performers sharing the ring with him and his own hiatuses preventing WWE from throwing its support behind him, he was refused victory.

As a Superstar whose influence on the match is unrivaled, it is that much more surprising that he has been as wholly unsuccessful as he has in the contest.

A Realistic Chance in 2016?

Common sense would seem to suggest that Kevin Owens, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, Alberto Del Rio and Dean Ambrose are all more suited to leave Las Vegas on June 19 with the Money in the Bank briefcase.

After all, Jericho is likely to skip out on the company again as opportunities with his band, Fozzy, present themselves, and the match has traditionally been geared toward creating new stars.

Although brief, the fact that Jericho's lack of success was alluded to in the promo that kicked off the June 6 episode of Raw suggests that WWE Creative may be planting the seeds for a Y2J victory.

Jericho has done a fantastic job of overcoming a painfully generic babyface character earlier in the year, reaching into his old bag of tricks to develop a heel persona straight out of 1986. His venomous insults—including "stupid idiot"—are reminiscent of a much simpler time in pro wrestling, and to the surprise of many, it has worked.

Chants of "stupid idiot" fill the arenas that Jericho competes in, and his mastery of the mic incites passionate jeers wherever he goes. Clearly motivated, he has been stellar in nearly every facet of the game.

If WWE Creative was to choose Jericho as the winner of this year's match, it would be choosing a Superstar whose experience is inarguable and whose acclaimed performances in big-match situations are plentiful. A grizzled vet, he is a performer officials can count on to deliver in a major angle, be it immediately or somewhere down the line.

While there is a chance, Jericho's inconsistency from an availability standpoint may doom him to another defeat.

The possibility that his band books a tour or he finds himself with another television gig may prevent WWE Creative from going that route. Barring injury, it can trust that any one of the other five Superstars in the match will be around for long-term story purposes—something that is not possible in Jericho's case.

The positives are strong, but the variables seem to dampen any chance Jericho has of capturing the briefcase and challenging for another world heavyweight title.