Imagining a world where Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens’ battle at WWE WrestleMania 33 was for the Universal Championship.

At WrestleMania 33, Goldberg defended the Universal Championship against Brock Lesnar. Everyone, myself included, was not thrilled that two part-timers were fighting over the heavyweight title, and instead it should have been Kevin Owens defending against Chris Jericho. 

KO and Jericho were the hottest duo in 2016. What started off as a random tag team pairing quickly turned into solid gold. Both superstars had a ton of chemistry together, so when KO became universal champion and Jericho was side by side with him, it worked. Jericho’s moniker at the time, “You Just Made The List,” and his amazing scarf collection were a highlight of Monday Night Raw. 

KO and Jericho were the best of friends; Owens even helped his buddy win the United States Championship. Every time KO had a title defense, Jericho would cause some distraction or physically get involved to ensure Owens remained champion. At the 2017 Royal Rumble PLE, Jericho was held up in a shark cage hanging above the ring and still managed to try and help KO defeat Roman Reigns, but the WWE Universe had Braun Strowman to thank for that assist. 

Gearing up to WrestleMania, Goldberg would push and prod his way into getting a championship match at Fastlane. Jericho would be the one to offer him a title match; in return, the duo would immediately break up. In the historic segment “Festival of Friendship,” Jericho would give his best friend a bunch of meaningful gifts, but KO had other plans. Owens would brutally attack Jericho and throw him into the TV screen.

Let’s be honest, Goldberg and Lesnar didn’t need the title to tell an important story. ‘The Beast Incarnate’ could have gotten his revenge after his humiliating loss to Goldberg at the 2016 Survivor Series in eighty-five seconds. The two part-timers could have had their match, and KO and Jericho, former best friends, could have had their storybook ending in a fantastic match. 

We all know how Jericho got his revenge on KO, by costing him the universal championship at Fastlane. What if by some miracle, KO retained the title and Jericho still got his revenge? Both superstars would have delivered an in-ring classic match at Mania. Jericho himself has actually stated that being placed second on the card was one of the catalysts to him leaving WWE and venturing out to other wrestling companies. For the first time in his WWE career, Jericho could have been world champion as a babyface. 

A look back at the night Batista charted his course to greatness, when he picked his opponent for WWE WrestleMania 21.

In 2003, the hottest faction was Evolution, consisting of Randy Orton, Batista, Ric Flair, and then-World Heavyweight Champion Triple H. Evolution was something special, as HHH would play mentor to the young up-and-coming superstars Orton and Batista. 

Batista had watched his mentor destroy all his opponents and even turn on his protégé, Orton, after being the youngest champion in WWE history at the 2004 SummerSlam event. “The Animal” saw HHH’s greed and selfishness when the infamous “thumbs down” segment happened on Raw. Evolution beat the living hell out of Orton. He left Orton a bloody mess while beating him with the world title. 

At the 2005 New Year’s Revolution PLE, Batista was eliminated when HHH intentionally sacrificed him and ultimately cost him his first world championship. The Animal was shown the footage by his former teammate Orton about the lengths HHH would go to become world champion. 

Batista would go on to win the 2005 Royal Rumble and would be trying to decide if he wanted to go to SmackDown and face JBL for the WWE Championship or face his mentor HHH at WrestleMania. For weeks, HHH and Flair would try to manipulate The Animal into making the jump to SmackDown, including staging a hit-and-run attempt on Batista with JBL’s limousine. HHH thought he was so slick and had everything in the bag until the night of Batista’s contract signing for the brands. 

In one of the most watched segments of all time, Batista shocked the WWE universe and even his mentor himself when he did the “thumbs down” signal once again and hit a massive powerbomb through the table. “Hunter, I know what I’m going to do; I’m staying right here on Raw, and I’m taking the world championship from you!” The Animal was unleashed, and he would go on to win the championship at WrestleMania and defeat HHH three times in a row. Batista would then be moved over to SmackDown and continue his dominant championship reign. 

HHH knew what he was doing in the long run; he set Batista up for success throughout his entire WWE career. He would go off to Hollywood years later until he was ready to retire. The two former Evolution members would face off one final time in 2019, where HHH’s career would be on the line at WrestleMania 35. Batista repaid the favor for his mentor by allowing him to defeat him and ‘doing the honors’ to a man he respected. 

Batista was able to finish out his career exactly how he wanted and retire from in-ring action. None of this would have happened if HHH hadn’t used Evolution to catapult Batista into success in WWE.