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Kevin Owens' iconic betrayal of Chris Jericho at the Festival of Friendship was recalled on this week's episode of WWE SmackDown. Grayson Waller used the incident as an example of why Cody Rhodes shouldn't trust the Prizefighter ahead of their title match at Bash in Berlin.
The Festival of Friendship took place on WWE RAW on February 13, 2017. Chris Jericho wanted to celebrate his bond and tag team partnership with Owens, who was the Universal Champion at the time.
Jericho dubbed it one of the most enjoyable periods of his WWE career. The current AEW star lavished praise on KO and promised to have his back ahead of a title match against Goldberg.
Kevin Owens brought a present to the festival, a new list for the veteran. Y2J had a 'List of Jericho, ' a list of grievances against then-RAW general manager Mick Foley and other superstars.
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However, the list Owens gave Jericho had his name on it, and as he raised the book, one could see what was written was actually the 'List of KO.' The Universal Champion's demeanor then changed, and he attacked his longtime friend.
It was one of the most memorable betrayals in WWE history, and the Festival of Friendship segment was one of KO's greatest moments. It ended the run of one of the most popular teams in the company's history in shocking fashion.
WWE CCO Triple H reportedly wasn't a fan of Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho's Festival of Friendship
The Festival of Friendship was a hit with fans, and former creative team member, Jimmy Jacobs, came up with the idea. He envisioned it as similar to The Rock and Mick Foley's 'This is Your Life' segment.
However, Triple H wasn't too fond of the festival because he felt it was too goofy for Owens. WWE's Chief Content Officer wanted the then-Universal Champion to be more serious than the comedic heel, Jericho.
Jimmy Jacobs delved into this issue when speaking on Jofo in the Ring:
“We’re in Vegas, the day of, Vince wasn’t there that day. Triple H was in charge and Triple H did not like all the Chris Jericho/Kevin Owens stuff because Kevin Owens was a Triple H guy, and Jericho was a little goofy for Hunter. You have seen that in NXT when Hunter was in charge, and it was all serious stuff." [H/T : ITR Wrestling].
Regardless of Triple H's thoughts on the Festival of Friendship, it did its job in setting up a feud between Owens and Jericho. They fought for the United States Championship at WrestleMania 33 with KO going over.
