Two is company, three is a crowd. This is a saying that many of you might be familiar with; however, in the WWE three is hardly EVER a crowd. A perfect example: the tremultuous fued between Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, and Batista. Three men who have been able to take the retirement of Ric Flair to a whole new level.
It's no secret that Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho are my top two favorite wrestlers. When they first met face to face at Wrestlemania 19, you could say I was more than a little excited. What I like about it this time around is how the WWE used another legend in Ric Flair to really jump-start it and give fans another chapter in this saga.
Now, let us not forget about Batista. Ric Flair, the idol and mentor for Batista had his career ended by Michaels. Thus, Batista was a logical choice for a fued, to continue the story and saga of Flair's retirement. Also, since HBK and Batista hadn't truly crossed paths and gone one-on-one up to this point, (unlike HBK/Jericho) it only seemed logical to make it happen. I can also honestly say Batista (while no Jericho) held his own and had a decent match against Michaels at Backlash.
Enter Jericho. This worked on a number of levels, and for a number of reasons as well. One, Jericho seemed to be geared and ready for a post-Wrestlemania fued with Jeff Hardy where Jericho would presumably play the heel. Since Hardy was suspended, they really had no direction or ideas. They know fans love to see Jericho and Michaels go at it and since both can talk, AND wrestle it gels nicely.
Again, logically it fit to have Batista vs. Michaels at Backlash. Revenge for what happened to Flair. But, what to do with Jericho? Since there never seems to be any long term plans for the InterContinental Title, a Special Guest ref spot is what he got. Judgement Day comes around, now it's Jericho's turn; 'mania 19 revisited....classic!
It worked because Michaels has now beaten both Batista and Jericho in back-to-back PPV's. Now the question becomes, where to go from here. Yes Michaels and Batista have a rematch at One Night Stand in a stretcher match; but again what happens to Jericho?
I say let Michaels and Batista duke it out at ONS, only to have both men knocked out and have Jericho stand tall over both. This way Jericho is still a tweener as fans wouldn't know whether to cheer or boo. Then, at the following PPV have the inevitable Triple Threat Match where the winner perhaps becomes the number one contender. This could be the end of a nice three-way fued, and everyone would benefit.
What I like most about this fued is that it involves three men, where no one is truly a face or a heel. Michaels faked an injury, does that make him heel? Batista acted like a crybaby and punk, is he heel? Jericho did what he does best and stirred the pot; face or heel? No one really knows and that's why people are tuning in, to see the next chapter and who will get the upper hand each week.
Whatever happens in the near future, one thing remains true, this fued has been a bright spot on WWE programming since the fall-out of Wrestlemania. Here's to hoping it continues with the Animal unleashing, HBK remaning the showstopper, and Y2J continuing to save us as only he can!
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