Has Jericho Improved?

[Crush1]

From the time he re-debuted there was a lot of negative things being said about Chris Jericho. Such as that he was too boring, or that he didn't have what it took to be a main eventer in this stage of pro wrestling. And now I believe that Jericho proved all of those smarks wrong. Jericho is now the biggest heel on Raw and the most hateable superstar today. Tell me one thing that isn't to be hated about his new character. I have to give kudos to Jericho for turning his way around.

I believe that Jericho has tremendously improved. His heelish act is so succesfull that other superstars are copying him. He is articulate and has a way to make you hate him. This new character si really working out for him, and I can't wait for Jericho to feud with someone that's he could have good chemistry with. Anyway what do you think about Chris Jericho? Has he improved? Does he have what it takes? Feel free to discuss.

 

[Phoenix]

I feel that Jericho's character for his second run works for his age and his level of maturity. Where before he went away, he was about energy, charisma and big spots. His second run feels more right for his age, yes we won't see big moments like he had in his feuds with the likes of Chris Benoit, but his adapted style makes you feel like you're watching someone you know has 20 plus years of experience.

He always had brilliant mike work, no question there, but his heel run with "Don't call me Y2J" and dropping the parts of him that were big parts of his character in his first run shows his is much more flexible and really knows how to get the fans to hate you or like you, I did feel his heel runs were more annoying than hateworthy.

He's like Shawn Michaels, getting better with age. He definitely deserved to have his World Title runs, especially putting his first run, what Vince called "a mistake" to rest. Only thing I'd change is his shorts, his look was better in tights! lol

 

[HBK-aholic]

His debut was such a let down I feared that he wouldn't do anything interesting, and would slowly back back out of the business. I'm very glad to say I was wrong - his feud with Shawn Michaels was the most interesting thing in wrestling last year, and they put on some great matches.

Jericho was never boring, and he's had some great matches as I said above, but I prefer the Jericho of before. His 'feud' with Stephanie McMahon was hilarious so much so I still remember it now. His match with HBK at WM 19 was better thn the matches in their recent feud also. So, Jericho hasn't not improved, I just prefer his gimmick before.

 

[foundation611]

Jericho has definitely improved. He is at the top of his game right now. He's always been gold on the mic but his new persona is great and it does show maturity. He basically reinvented himself by acting more his age. His feud with HBK last year was an amazing feud and very rare to be that interesting and drawn out for so long in this day and age. I just hope he gets a good long run as champ. I'm sick of those one month title reigns for everyone but especially him. What's the point of having someone like JBL of all people as WWE champ for 9 mos and guys like Jericho who are infinitely more talented in every facet get the multiple one month or 1 month plus title reigns.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

From the time he re-debuted there was a lot of negative things being said about Chris Jericho. Such as that he was too boring, or that he didn't have what it took to be a main eventer in this stage of pro wrestling. And now I believe that Jericho proved all of those smarks wrong. Jericho is now the biggest heel on Raw and the most hateable superstar today. Tell me one thing that isn't to be hated about his new character. I have to give kudos to Jericho for turning his way around.

I believe that Jericho has tremendously improved. His heelish act is so succesfull that other superstars are copying him. He is articulate and has a way to make you hate him. This new character si really working out for him, and I can't wait for Jericho to feud with someone that's he could have good chemistry with. Anyway what do you think about Chris Jericho? Has he improved? Does he have what it takes? Feel free to discuss.

I don't think Jericho really proved the smarks wrong at all. And just a correction. Jericho is NOT the biggest heel on Raw. That honor will go to Randy Orton at the moment.

As far as who is the best all-around heel on Raw, as far as drawing heat, and being convincing on the mic ... that honor will go to JBL.

Now, before people start questioning me as being a fan of the old Y2J that wants the old Y2J back, that is not the case at all. I am perfectly fine with Jericho being a heel. But I am not in the least impressed with this particular character that he plays.

I am very apathetic towards any particular character. I respect the talent as workers, and I respect Chris Jericho as a worker. But if he portrays a character I am not particularly fond of, I am going to say something.

All I can say, is that after seeing feedback from Jericho marks on the Internet, I can only assume that this guy can do no wrong, and he simply has a very blind fanbase that will fully support anything he does, or any character he plays.

First of all, the charges of Jericho being boring. I personally agree with them. Jericho can be guaranteed for every TV appearance and House Show to pick from these particular soundbites each and every week ... and in many cases, use all 3 of the repetitive soundbites:

1) "I am the best wrestler in the world today."
2) "I was the 2008 Wrestler of the Year."
3) "You all are nothing, but liars and hypocrites."

Now evidently, we had fans upset with Triple H in his promos back in 1999-2002 or so. They were upset because he essentially came out and told everyone he was "The Game" and that he was "That damn good!" each and every week. They criticized him for saying the same things over and over, each week, and his promos not really containing anything of great substance. Yet, when Chris Jericho does the same thing, and reiterates the same thing each and every week, it evidently is okay. Not only is it okay ... it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

So, its the repetitiveness of his soundbites that I take major issue with. I think it's boring. And I think it's lazy. Give us some new material.

Furthermore, I understand he is trying not to act like Y2J, but the monotone voice he does in his promos, as opposed to being effective, actually puts me to sleep. I can't help but zone out when he speaks. Combine that with the repetitiveness ... it makes me completely disinterested in hearing anything he has to say.

Also, if we are going to be the complete opposite of Y2J, in every way, why does he still have the same theme? Makes not a single shred of sense, at all. Of course, that is the fault of the Production team, and certainly not his. Just another critique to go along with his character, though.

Third, I could dress up any Indy wrestler in a business suit, each and every week ... and say the same things over, and over, and over again. And I guarantee that if we had any average person on the roster, that the IWC isn't fond of ... like Charlie Haas for example ... and he did the exact same thing Chris Jericho was doing today ... the Internet would be all over him for being a bland, stale, boring character.

So in many ways, I guess Jericho is right. Fans are a bunch of hypocrites.

 

[klunderbunker]

I think Jericho has a big problem: he's simply not a main event level talent, but WWE insists on making him one. I can't say I blame him. He looks, wrestles, acts, and talks like a main event level wrestler, but for some reason it's just not clicking. His world title reigns have been terrible to say the least. People always talk about how much better he is as a heel than a face. Well he's never had a world title run as a face, so why not try that? If one thing doesn't work, why not try another? He's improved, but his heel character is limited in my eyes. There's no reason to think that he can go any higher than he already has. His whole character was built around beating Shawn. He did that. What's left for him? It's not that he hasn't improved. It's that his character has done everything it can. Time to change him up.

 

[Zeitgeist]

I actually think the opposite, instead of saying he was bad when he re-debuted and has since improved, I feel like he's getting worse. His "Rants" every week sound like the exact same thing. He tries a little too hard to be an uber heel, constantly whining about the fans, constantly pulling out big words from his fake vocabulary, it's starting to get old. I'd rather see him become more of a tweener because Jericho has unlimited potential when the fans are behind him. He should keep his cockiness, keep bragging about his championship history, keep disagreeing with the McMahons, but stop being so sour and upset all the time.

 

[Kyphael]

The problem with Jericho's new character is--that it was inspired by the antagonist from no Country for Old Men. A calm, collective, monotone psychopath killer who is virtually unstoppable. Problem is, Randy Orton morphed into that character an year ago or so before Jericho's heel turn so Jericho is pretty much playing Orton's character with a business suit, take away the unstoppable part. From what I've seen, Orton's character is booked to look stronger than Jericho, therefore, fans who cheer heels get behind him and you hear the occasional RKO chant, making him sound like a great anti-hero, whereas Jericho rants and often gets beat up by someone like Cena or made to look like a loser like Stephanie, so he loses respect and heat.

I mean, how can you take a character serious after he has kneeled down on national television and begged for forgiveness, only to go back to the same, tired old song of yesterday the following week? Even for a bad guy, that's missing a backbone. Orton is so over right now because he's one of the few bad guys WWE has written well in DECADES. As far as the WWE goes, if you're not 6'5, 300 pounds and you're a heel, then you have to be a sniveling back stabbing coward. Think about some of the great heels WWE did well.

Who ever saw Andre the Giant kiss anybody's ass, get down on his knees, or get cleanly physically dominated? Or HHH in his prime as a heel, or Yokozuna, or The Undertaker, or Brock Lesnar so on and so forth. Jericho as a heel, has always been dominated and humiliated because he's like 6'0 and 250 pounds. So yeah, if you're not over the 6'5 mark in the WWE and you're a heel, then you're going to be the spineless kind. Unless you're JBL and have a horrible physique.

 

[wolfpack22]

Chris Jericho is at the shawn micheals heel stage of his career. Yes he came back with the whole save us 22 b.s. , but ever since he turned heel he won the heavyweight title twice, and was involved in an awesome storyline with shawn micheals. HIs promos have also improved and he always gets the most heat out of all of RAWs heels.

 

[Lee]

I likedthe way they brought Jericho back, the save us promos were good and whilst the IWC knew it was him, I still marked the fuck out when he hit the torch bearer. I think when Cena returned, there was really no role for him, so working in the midcard giving him an IC run improved him a lot. He picked up a few new moves, and really it got him back into the swing of things. Add to that his heel turn and new character, it makes it a bit more believable about who he is. So yeah he has improved, not significantly, but he has improved.

 

[RVDgurl]

Jericho hasn't improved- he's always been that damn good. His return to the ring wasn't a failure, it just wasn't different. He attempted to pick up exactly where he left off and, unfortunately, the gimmick had lost it's luster. It wasn't for lack of performance or delivery. The wrestling world didn't need another comedy gimmick. And let's face it- it would have been next to impossible to have Jericho return as a heel.

What we are seeing now is another side of the Chris Jericho character. A more serious and diabolical heel. Jericho is at the top of his game and routinely delivers a phenomenal performance on the mic week after week. He is tapping into a place we haven't seen him go yet in his career. I think it's fantastic.

 

[dadadavie]

jericho hasn't gotten better or worse he's evolved into this heel and works so well for him jericho deserves where he is today with this heel character he's just as much as an egomaniac as he was when he was face i love him either way jericho is the best wrestler in wwe today without a doubt and he's the only reason i haven't completely stopped watching wwe and just strictly tna if he jumped ship (which i know he wouldn't) i would be so happy that i didnt waste 50 bucks just to see edge cry and hhh win AGAIN so jericho for president

 

[RealDealOdin]

Chris always been a major entertainer whereever he went, so i dont think hes improving.He is good he can sell and hes puting a lot of people over. Its like when they had the tilte match Cena vs Jericho in Boston ; Jericho was able to carry the entire match and put Cena over at the end and make him regain the world title.
His new persona is credible cause he have the skills to make everyone believe that he is truly whinning about this and that and you goddam know its true. I like when Chris comes to ring and tell whatever he have to say and the crowd have no choice but to listen to him hahaha. Plus his in ring style make him probably one of the best performers today, If he keeps this up he probably gonna make his way to the hall of fame.
And thats the bottom line CANADA IS JERICHO

 

[Christian Battlez]

Correction: Jericho is the second biggest heel on Raw. The best is Randy Orton. Jericho was great at first but hes getting significantly whinier. I like his new character but not as much as the old chris jericho. Just like I enjoy the new Randy Orton but I liked the old one better. Theres nothing bad about it. But hes not better now or anything.

 

[hArdyPUNKmArk]

Only thing I'd change is his shorts, his look was better in tights! lol

I have thought that very thing every time he comes out. The tights were way better, he doesnt have the beef to wear the budgie smugglers. And when he was walking out with the WHC around his waist he looked naked LOL

I honestly rate Jericho really really high. I'm gonna go out there and say he is just as good as the Rock, Hogan or Stone Cold. He just was not quite over as much as SCSA or the Rock but i have no doubt that he would have been the face of the attitude era if Rock and SCSA werent around.

Jericho is a legend and a sure HOFer. He is able to do anything, and i mean anything that is asked of him, he is really really really good at what he does and deserves a sure spot in the HOF someday and will hold a few more world titles, that's for sure!

 

[Richard]

I don't think Jericho really proved the smarks wrong at all. And just a correction. Jericho is NOT the biggest heel on Raw. That honor will go to Randy Orton at the moment.

Despite the fact that Randy Orton still gets cheered louder than Jericho, watching RAW the other week there were "RKO" chants, I would say Jericho is the biggest heel on RAW as long as Randy Orton is still getting chants for him. Randy Orton gets written as a complete bad ass who can win matches cleanly so obviously he's going to get people cheering him, as long as Randy Orton is like that, he wont be the biggest heel.

As for if Jericho has improved, improved compared to when do you mean? If you mean improved to when he came back in 2007, then I would say yes because I think the new serious, take no shit, dont call me Y2J, I am Chris Jericho heel works better than his old Y2J character at this point in time because I think it's more believeable than the flamboyant Y2J but I would gladly welcome back his Y2J character if he was to undergo a face turn after WrestleMania which I think he could do if he was to stay on RAW but if he was to go to SmackDown during the draft then I expect him to stay as this incarnate of Chris Jericho where he could feud against Jeff Hardy or The Undertaker, or as a face, against Edge.

Compared to when he debuted in 1999, well, I would say yes aswell but there were so many memorable promos for me when he was Y2J, your party host, the king of the world, etc and matches aswell.

KB hit the spot, Chris Jericho as he currently is has done everything he can do because this Chris Jericho started because of Shawn Michaels and his hatred of everything Shawn Michaels was so he changed and dropped the tights, dropped the flamboyance, etc and it's time to give his character a shake up, I don't know wether bringing Y2J back would be the best idea since he said he no longer wants to be called Y2J, but it could work I suppose and I wouldn't mind it.

But yes, I feel that Chris Jericho has improved, but it's as far as he can improve while he is still in this character, he needs something new because he can only keep doing the same routine for so long before the heat he gets is not the "fuck you Chris Jericho, I want to break your legs" heat, it'll be the "shut the hell up, you're so boring" heat.

 

[WinstonDeckard]

Improve? Does he have to? He gets insane heat, and has completely altered his gimmick. His gimmick is over, enough said. How much does this guy have to accomplish before people give him a bloody break? He just changed his gimmick from one that wasn't over to one that is, and while his current gimmick is still extremely over you're calling for him to change it again? Like I said give the guy a break and some credit while you're at it.

 

[Mortuus]

jericho is the best heel on raw, ortons damn good, but half the audience still chant rko! rko! rko! when he's out there. That is not a true heel, true heels are hated, jericho is pretty much there.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

jericho is the best heel on raw, ortons damn good, but half the audience still chant rko! rko! rko! when he's out there. That is not a true heel, true heels are hated, jericho is pretty much there.

JBL is a better all-around heel than Jericho, in my opinion. At least JBL varies his soundbites, instead of saying the same boring repetitive lines each and every promo. Come up with something original, Jericho ... other than saying in every promo "I am the best wrestler in the world today. These fans are nothing, but liars and hypocrites." Etc.