 Ah the good old days. Chris Jericho now has to choose a tag partner for Sunday's match vs. Legacy. Photo by Mike Lano, WReaLano@aol.com. |
Sunday’s presentation of Night of Champions is coming close, and for the first time in what seems like ages, the biggest story going into the PPV surrounds the tag team division and its championship match.
Thanks to an injured Edge, Chris Jericho goes into his bout against Legacy for the Unified straps without a partner named. Yes, it’s eerily similar to what we saw last year when Ted DiBiase Jr. debuted at NOC and plucked Cody Rhodes as his partner, stealing him from opponent Hardcore Holly.
Because of the timeliness, there has been some speculation that Mr. DiBiase will turn on Rhodes and, as a result, Randy Orton, which would graduate to being the much rumoured feud between the third generation wrestlers.
The logics behind such a move, however, seem to prevent that one from happening (though, as they say, anything can happen in WWE). Instead, it looks like the former Y2J will have a different partner this weekend.
But who? Certainly there have been enough names that have been tossed around, and we’ll throw a few more out there this coming Sunday with our staff PPV preview. But, just to get the ball rolling, let’s take a closer look at some names who could stand beside Chris at NoC.
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While the E&C reunion hasn’t come yet, this reunion of Vitamin C could easily take place. In all likelihood, Christian’s ECW Championship match vs. Tommy Dreamer will be the curtain jerker, which would give him plenty of time to recover before this bout happens. The dynamic of the tag team champs being on all shows would also allow Christian to stay in ECW which is lacking in star power (to say the least).
Swagger’s name has been tossed around a few times and there’s a lot to like about the potential here. Swagger is undoubtedly ready to step his game up to the next level and could polish his mic skills when standing alongside Jericho. Again, we have a scenario here where Swagger is in a match already (scramble for the U.S. title) and his bouts could conceivably be spaced out enough to allow him to recuperate between matches.
The Chris Connection? Could be. Masters has signed and seems ready to return. His heel persona would remain intact from his departure so logistically he fits in very well. The only potential problem with Masters is that he’s almost too heel to be with Jericho who the fans love to hate, though it could set up a feud between the two a few months down the road.
Lenny Lane v.2? Not quite. Ziggler’s stock has soared in WWE and he’s really starting to get some fan attention. Like Jericho, Ziggler’s starting to develop into the guy fans love to hate, especially with Maria now apparently by his side. At this point, Ziggler would probably benefit just as much by being alongside Jericho as he would, should he defeat Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Title. Plus, there’s the natural Jericho/Rey feud tie-in that could be further developed later in the evening.
Joe Hennig
On Monday, DiBiase and Rhodes had fun dismissing Jericho’s dad as being a benchwarmer and he not having the same pedigree as they did. Well, looking at WWE solely, Hennig’s dad, Curt, certainly had more title success than Ted Sr. or Dusty, so he would be…well… the perfect counter to Legacy. Hennig’s “ready for primetime” status is unknown, though, but his development could be well hidden in tag bouts on the big stage.
Of course, a number of other possibilities exist (Ralphus isn’t doing much these days, is he?). The answer to this burning question is just a day away, so we’ll soon have our answer. The only part left will be to see whether or not Jericho retains.
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Jon Waldman has been with SLAM! since 2000.