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A wandering rock star savior returns to go nuts on WWE's spiritual singing cult leader!
Bray Wyatt vs. Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho's WWE comeback after an eleven and a half month absence should have been a moment for glorious jubilation, but that was scuppered when he immediately caught the attention of WWE's psychopathic preacher, Bray Wyatt. Y2J was a victim of his own "Save Us" past, as the deranged madman decided to hold Jericho accountable for his previous sins and attempt to cast him right back out of the WWE Universe again for his arrogant false prophetry. But has Bray bitten off more than he can chew with a man who possesses the heart of a lion?
The Road to Battleground
Oh yeah, baby, Chris Jericho's surprise WWE return the day after Money In The Bank most certainly rocked the house when he wiped the smirk off that Hollywood jackass's face The Miz by planting him with the Codebreaker! But before the show could complete its metamorphosis into Raw is Jericho, the lights went out and Bray Wyatt's creepy music hit. We then saw the sadly far too familiar sight of the Wyatt Family picking out a solitary victim and taking it too slaughter, but why on earth did they choose Jericho to be their prey?
However, Jericho took the ambush in his stride, thanking Bray on his return to Smackdown for reminding him that WWE isn't all about fun and games, and also letting him know he had a dangerous, crazy streak too that he would be more than willing to use if pushed.
A rude interruption then came over the Titantron where Wyatt mocked Y2J for pretending to be a savior in a wicked world in the past and told him to focus on saving himself instead by keeping out of his way. But it didn't look like Jericho would heed his warning.
On the July 7th Monday Night Raw, Jericho made an emphatic in-ring return by cleanly defeating The Miz after punching him in his moneymaker and locking on the Walls of Jericho for a quick tap-out victory. Once again, Bray was there to interrupt his celebration, openly question how he expected to save a universe when he couldn't even save himself, and proclaim that his former Jerichoholics now sung to his hymn sheet. Jericho vowed to knock him off his rocker, but thought better of it when Luke Harper and Erick Rowan did their magic appearance act.
Jericho was quickly back in action on Smackdown against WWE Title contender Randy Orton, but lost due to Bray Wyatt's mind games when he was distracted by The Eater of Worlds's trademark opening chime and stumbled right into an RKO. No-one kicks out of that finisher!
Jericho was back to talking on the go home Raw, putting over Wyatt as a most unique opponent: "an anomaly, a manipulator, an ominous presence, a shadow in the dark, a freak surrounded by freaks, a seemingly unstoppable force", and reiterated that he would get crazy and go nuts with him at Battleground. When the lights went out, Harper and Rowan were there to attempt to ambush The Ayatollah of Rock ‘n’ Rolla’, but the rock star managed to get out of dodge, only to be attacked from behind by Bray Wyatt and laid out with Sister Abigail on the steel ramp-way.
The closing note of the hype was by the book on Friday night's Smackdown. Jericho got to face a member of the Wyatt clan for the first time ever as he faced Luke Harper, but only picked up a DQ win when Bray Wyatt and Erick Rowan inevitably ran in to attack their enemy. However, Jericho was saved from being left laying again when The Usos came to his aid.
What's at Stake?
Like Bray Wyatt's feud with John Cena, this seems to be a battle primarily for the hearts and minds of WWE fans, as Bray wants to turn Raw is Jericho addicts into a choir full of "He's got his whole words in his hands" converts.
Once again, Wyatt is trying to rage the fans against the babyface machine, before going after the trinkets of power in the WWE Universe. Those big gold belts don't interest Jericho either, as he looks to settle the grudge Bray started before riding into the sunset to continue his Fozzy days.
Whatever happens tonight, I'm sure this will be the first chapter in a war of biblical proportions!
Will Chris Jericho get a measure of revenge against the devious Bray Wyatt in round one of many? Find out on the WWE Network and right here at Cageside Seats!