In what many would consider an unexpected result, Chris Jericho defeated his bitter rival Kevin Owens to win the United States Championship at WWE Payback. Per the stipulations of the match, Jericho is now a member of the Smackdown Live roster, so it looks like Kevin Owens will officially be staying put on Monday Night Raw.
With Jericho winning the title, it’s very likely that WWE is planning some sort of angle to write him off television on this week’s Raw or Smackdown Live. It’s been reported for some time that this would be Jericho’s final pay-per-view match of his current run, as his band Fozzy gets set to launch their “Judas Rising” tour of the United States this coming Friday. The group will be performing 20 shows in just 23 days, with a UK tour planned for June, making it virtually impossible for Y2J to continue making appearances for WWE.
It will be interesting to see what WWE does with the U.S. title in the next two days, as AJ Styles has already earned an opportunity at the championship, which is scheduled to take place in Chicago at WWE Backlash on May 21st. For what it’s worth, Fozzy will be in Morgantown, West Virginia that night.