Jericho's Latest Run

[The Crock]

Ever since Chris Jericho's return, I've been seeing quite a bit of complaints about his latest run -- predominantly this: "Jericho is being wasted. He needs a significant push soon." I find that to be absolutely ridiculous. The first few times I saw it, I dismissed it as a few Jericho marks just wanting to see their guy at the top. It certainly wouldn't be the first time something of the sort has happened. The more I saw it, the more confused I got, though. What has been the problem with Jericho's run, exactly? Has he really not gotten enough of a push?

I mean, ever since his return, Jericho has been feuding at the main event level for the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship, being one of the focal points of WWE programming. Sure, he hasn't been beating the likes of CM Punk and Sheamus, but he's been at the top consistently. That's not enough? Sorry, I can't help but disagree with that notion -- especially when I consider the fact that Jericho is a veteran of this business, nearing the end of the line, and probably on the way out in the near future. Jericho can still have a good feud and a good match, which he has been doing, but he's best served putting people over. Even so, there's not much else he could do with his latest run -- nor should people expect any more.

It just seems to me that fans have extremely high expectations. So much, that they don't realize how highly WWE has presented Jericho since his return. Fans don't sit down and consider that WWE is pushing new stars and using Jericho in a role that suits him perfectly; instead, the fans are crying out about Jericho being misused, about how his return has tarnished his legacy, and even proclaiming that he should have returned. That just all seems so over the top, especially considering that WWE put Jericho to such good use and will only continue to do so, in all likelihood.

I can't be the only one who sees this, right? So, what do you think, has Jericho's latest push been enough? Are the fans' expectations too high/unrealistic?

 

[FlexAmerican Dynamite]

I think Jericho has done his purpose, which is putting over young or sometimes already established talent. I think true Jericho fans are just angry at the fact that Jericho has lost every single PPV match he's had since coming back. I don't know what they plan to do with Jericho when he comes back but I think they should use him to get Ziggler over as a face (if they decide to break him up from Vickie of course). If Jericho wants to put over young talent then we shouldn't really complain. Jericho was never "the man" like Cena/Rock/Austin or even where Punk is now. And sorry to say it he never will be. But he will be remembered, and while I can't say I've been happy with his current run he's still put on great matches, I'll take good wrestling any day over a shit winning streak.

 

[#heel420]

He's at that point in his career where he doesn't need the championship. He has nothing left to prove. He's helping put guys over that are gonna be with company long after he's gone. He's still in marquee matches working with top talent. It's not like he's going out there and putting on shit matches. The Jerichoholics need to stop complaining and enjoy Y2J while he's still around.

 

[DANIELBRYANrealwrestler]

Even tho Jericho hasnt been winning hes still about the most entertaining thing in wwe which proves he is the best in the world at what he does!!Jericho understands the business and yes he is putting people over unlike Randy or HHH. I just wish he became face because why do you need to put over the faces? i think its the heels that havent gotten put over properly. BTW if Jericho comes back as a heel (probably) : IF ANYONE IS UNIFYING THE US AND IC TITLE IT SHOULD BE NONE OTHER THAN CHRIIIIS JEERRIICHOOO hows that for a last run

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

Chris Jericho calls himself "The Best in the World at what he does" and his fans believe it. How is he "Best in the World" when he has been doing nothing but losing every match ? He even lost to the likes of JTG, Santino Marella in 2009 when he was on Smackdown.


He puts over too much. Chris Jericho should atleast have won one match to give the CM Punk/ Jericho fued more credibility and it would have put over CM Punk much better.

 

[SuperSteve16]

Jericho is one of the best of all time and while he is great at putting people over and should be at this stage of his career, he has gotten to the point where these loses are starting to affect his credibility. I mean, at of the PPVS Jericho has wrestled at since his return, he couldn't win one? I mean there putting people over and then there's losing nearl every single match your in!

 

[IT Factor]

I think you misunderstand the point, Crock. It's not that fans are bitching simply to do so or that they are necessarily hardcore Jericho marks. For me, it's that WWE put alot of hype & build into Jericho's 2012 return and spent most of it having him troll around. And although I did enjoy his work with CM Punk, that still doesn't excuse the 2 or 3 months WWE spent doing absolutely nothing with him.

Any fan who has been watching long enough knows not to blame Jericho. It's not him. It's WWE's scatterbrained manner of booking. There are very few consistent things that stay around. Perhaps WWE will do right by Jericho when he returns this upcoming Monday for RAW.

 

[ShowOffHEEL]

Christopher Irvine will always be my favourite wrestler of all time and he's the #1 reason I became a wrestling and music fan. Sure, I would love to see him become WWE Champion once more, but I understand why he probably won't be. I tune out from the world when he's on my screen because I know he won't be around forever. It won't be the same when he's gone but I will do my best to honour him when I finally have my first wrestling match in the future.

 

[Embrace The Hate]

Jericho is happy putting people over. He's said so himself, I do believe. Probably several times.

As for his usage, Jericho is happy putting other over. He isn't actually the egotistical jerk he plays on TV. I believe I read somewhere, or saw an interview (forget which), about how he could do nothing but lose, and STILL be over and not lose value. He doesn't have to win all the time, always win a title on every run he has in the ring. People know he's talented.

He's not complaining, and it's his career. He's putting over others, happily. So, why should we complain for the guy, when he's doing exactly what he wants?

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Chris Jericho calls himself "The Best in the World at what he does" and his fans believe it. How is he "Best in the World" when he has been doing nothing but losing every match ? He even lost to the likes of JTG, Santino Marella in 2009 when he was on Smackdown.


He puts over too much. Chris Jericho should atleast have won one match to give the CM Punk/ Jericho fued more credibility and it would have put over CM Punk much better.

He pinned Punk in a tag team match, cleanly, I may add off the Codebreaker.

There has been nothing wrong with Jericho's third run. Anybody whose a regular on the former is of the knowledge I'm a huge Chris Jericho mark, a self admitted one, but I don't haze reality and believe he is the greatest thing since sliced bread, just a simply thing that the guy provides me more entertainment both on the microphone, in the ring and as a presence than anybody else. I gained more joy from Chris Jericho versus CM Punk than I had in years and I mean this quite literally; I was promoting it in my signature for weeks, even before the match was announced.

People who know very little are of this belief that his latest run wasn't a "success", but what do they know about success? Success is what Jericho should determine, and his intention was to return to put Punk over at Wrestlemania. He did so and provided several good matches, several interesting and entertaining moments, the promo the night after Wrestlemania with the Jack Daniels bottle and the line, "...but don't drink too much Punk, cause it might go straight to your head!" Is up there with some of my favorite Jericho moments - there truly was nothing wrong with his latest run, he came back, gelled into the roster well and gave back to the business, that simple.

I'm even excited about his return next week. Reportedly, he may feature at Summerslam, Jericho is more of an asset than a detractor no matter how you look at it, plus he doesn't have to do this. Chris Jericho doesn't have to be a wrestler, he has several other projects progressing around him, with his band, his radio show, he writes articles for Kerrang and Revolver magazine, plus now he's getting his own web series - be appreciative that he wants to come back for the fans, because a WWE with Y2J is better than a WWE without.

 

[avriltt234]

I think they dropped the ball with Chris Jericho this time round, in my opinion they should have had Chris Jericho win the Wwe Championship at WrestleMania and had him hold it for a good couple of months.

 

[Radical]

I agree they dropped the ball a bit with Jericho on his latest run here.

I'm not even talking about the 'silence' gimmick to get heat. I'm fine with that but I think they really needed to give Jericho more MATCH WINS not just pre or post match beatings on Punk to give the BIG matches more credibility.

Seriously... after Jericho lost his first match to Punk there was no more reason to really believe Jericho would win it back.

Jericho should have won the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber or at VERY LEAST should have won all non-title matches between him and Punk.

Oh... and Jericho, please, wear pants again in the ring. It looks a lot better that way.

 

[Cereal Killer]

I think his run since 2007 has been awful. They have made him a heel the whole way through and not given him a decent world title run. His matches have not been that good and they have made him act like a fool. Before he was fired, he was great and because it wasn't PG, he could do anything in the ring he wanted to. He has a better gimmick than punk and better ring/mic skills. He should have beaten him at over the limit if not mania. They have ruined him since his return and now everyone's impression of Chris is a loser and a half.

 

[Trance Metaphor]

I admit I complained quite a bit about Chris Jericho's return. Among my random jargon, I was particularly disappointed with his lack of success in terms of victory. One thing he didn't do was win the Royal Rumble in his career, and while a lot of people might think that's miniscule, I feel like it would have been his career topper. Another thing is, I might be trapped in 2000 concerning Jericho 'cause no matter what, I still see him as the mic controlling, cocky and self-confident Y2J. I still get excited when I see him win matches and that still matters to me, despite him putting others over on a constant basis. I know he's done plenty of that, but he's had equilibrium while doing it. He picked up big shocking victories left and right. There was a sense of excitement and unpredictability in what he did. His latest return had none of that. In 2008-2010, I did not expect him to win the World Heavyweight Championship. That was a surprise. I did not expect him to beat Undertaker. That was a surprise. I did not expect him to beat Batista in a steel cage match for the World title. That was a surprise. I did not expect him to retain his World title against Shawn Michaels. That was a surprise. I did not expect him to retain his World title against Edge at WrestleMania. That was a surprise. Hell, even him losing his World title to Jack Swagger was a huge surprise. See what I mean? All of that was what made me a Jericho fan in the first place. However, this year? Nothing about Jericho was unpredictable. He had stellar matches, but that was it. Nothing made me believe this was the same Jericho of prior years and I'm not talking about age. He still looks like he's in his 20's and still moves like he's in his 30's. I was just disappointed that there wasn't much that he delivered upon all the hype, besides putting others over. There was no longer mystique to his character. I've read his book and watched his DVD and none of what's there was seen in the Jericho I saw return this year. That's my honest opinion.