The World Wrestling Federation was at its prime at this point in time. Devout WWF superstars successfully killed WCW and ECW (collectively known as the alliance) at Survivor Series 2001, leading into Vengeance 2001 (formerly Armageddon but was renamed for 2001 following September 11th). That night we saw the unification of the world heavyweight and WWF championships, in a series of matches between Chris Jericho and The Rock, Kurt Angle and Steve Austin, and ultimately Chris Jericho and Steve Austin. We all know how it ended, with Chris Jericho the first ever undisputed champion. But truth is, this reign is in my view very, very disputed. Earlier on in the year we saw Triple H, one of the top players in the game (and no pun intended) go down with a torn quad. Hunter would be sidelined at least 6-8 months and that is where we begin. If you start from that very match - Chris Benoit/Chris Jericho vs. Triple H/Steve Austin, you can tell it's the beginning of Jericho's time to shine. Jericho would wind up in a Triple Threat match at the King Of The Ring between his partner Benoit and Austin for the WWF championship. This match would also go down as the match where Chris Benoit injured his neck requiring, over 15 months absence.

These two incidences are, in my opinion, why Chris Jericho got the major push he received. He was simply put into Triple H's boots while he was out. Think about it. Stephanie McMahon was "ECW Owner" - she would have had Triple H over at that time in a heart-beat. So we'd have seen The Rock vs. Triple H headlining PPV's down the road, not Chris Jericho. He never would have seen the gold. Chris Jericho would never have gone anywhere because they had no other solid heel they could push, who wasn't a WCW alumni that the crowd liked (or liked to hate) except him.

Then look at this, Royal Rumble 2002. Triple H returns, wins the Royal Rumble, then makes the miraculous win at WrestleMania X-8 to win the Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship. Now look at Chris Jericho, forced into exile amongst the mid-card and hasn't come nearly as close as he once did to the WWE or World Heavyweight Championships. Before you think - what about New Year's Revolution or SummerSlam 2003" Do you really consider those legitimate shots" They were a chance for us to believe Goldberg, Randy Orton, or Batista would win it only to have our dreams shattered.

Now you may disagree with my views here, and that's quite frankly OK. I'm using current WWE logic on an event from nearly 3 years ago. That's right kids, it's been three years since Jericho's seen that title and people still are talking about it. But in reality, or in my view at least, it would have been all about the Game.

by Justin Kraemer ..