So after 2 years of building him up for world championship feuds...

[I own a set of balls]

...Chris Jericho, after his November 2007 debut on Raw, is back fighting for the Intercontinental championship after being a world heavy weight champion for nearly 2 months in 2008?

This just simply doesn't make sense (same thing going for Punk). It seems that the WWE is hesitant to push Jericho and Punk to the main event. Now I think this is a horrible decision on the creative's part (even though Mysterio and Jericho did indeed bring some prestige to the Intercontinental title). Jericho was in a program with Austin as well as the Rock (Both very over main eventers) nearly 8 years ago, hell 8-9 months ago he was was feuding with Cena, the biggest main event star of the WWE just around 8-9 months ago, but now he is struggling to hold his own against one of the top mid-carders and battling for a title that uprising, new stars would cherish.

So what do you say? Should Chris stay with the mid-card division and continue his epic Intercontinental championship tenure or should he be brought back to the main event after his feud with Mysterio.

 

[Alex(Killer Of Dreams & Legends)]

He is a main event er in terms of the show but not in terms of title. I think the whole reason was to bring respect back to the belt plus its a damn good story line which I see going in favor of Y2J and then he'll put some one over soon and move into the world title picture but as far as him being a mid carder I think your wrong . He is the 2nd heel on smackdown last i checked your second heel is no where near mid card level.

 

[†RKOâ€]

Y2J I believe was brought back to a "midcard" level just for that purpose that was stated above. To bring back prestige to the Intercontinental Title. He's on his what is it now 9th title reign? Forgive me if I'm wrong, granted he was the first undisputed champion beating both the Rock and Austin. Now it seems after he lost the title to one via John Cena at Survivor Series it seems as if creative is just trying to keep him at mid-card level to keep certain titles with the respect they deserve and to help push some of the other members. Although Rey doesn't really need the push from Jericho I mean he also was a WHC champion back in the day, so eh. Who knows. I do think Jericho is a main-eventer, but as far as WHC or WWE champ material. I don't think he belongs in the hunt anymore, he's gotten out of shape, and needs to build himself back up in order to be close the title hunt.

 

[HBK-aholic]

Jericho is an amazing wrestler, and there is already plenty of talent on the 2 main belts. There have been some great IC title matches before, and the WWE are probably trying to go back to that. Having Jericho show that he actually cares about this championship is a way to have the WWE show that it is an important belt, below only the main world titles.

 

[Lee]

Yeah at the time you had Edge as champion feuding with Hardy, who is now feuding with Punk. It makes logical sense to have your other two main eventers on the brand (outside of the injured taker) feuding with each other, and so what if it's for the IC belt? It makes it all a bit more interesting rather than you making a thread on the clusterfuck of the title picture like we have with the WWE championship!

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

I don't really believe that WWE's main reason for putting the Intercontinental Championship on Chris Jericho is because they really want to bring prestige back to the title. All WWE had to do is keep the title on Rey Mysterio and try to build him up as one of the greatest IC Champions of all time, like Mysterio wants. I really think WWE's main reason for putting the title on him was because they do not trust him to be in the main event. I mean, Jericho winning the World Heavyweight Championship two times last year was a great thing. It was something new that we haven't seen in a while and I believe it really helped Raw's ratings.

I believe that Jericho has what it takes to be in the main event and hold the World Heavyweight Championship for more than just a couple of months. To me, I feel that it's a bit of a slap in the face to Jericho for him to do all that he did last year and win Superstar of the Year for 2008, just to go back to holding the Intercontinental Championship for the 31st time.

Hopefully at The Bash, Mysterio can win back what is rightfully his and end their fued. That can give time for Mysterio to defend the title against all the hungry talent on the Smackdown brand, just waiting for a shot at the title. While Jericho can go back to the main event where he obviously belongs.

 

[Showtime]

First, let's not really consider Jericho being back in the middle card scene because he's IC champion for the millionth time. The IC title is the other variable that Jericho has to put up verse Rey's mask, which from the start of this feud has been focus of it. Without Jericho being IC champion, what would he have to put up against Rey's mask. His career?, they just moved him to SD and wouldn't move him back to RAW this soon. Jericho could've berated Rey verbally enough to get a match maybe, but it would've been silly if Rey was putting his mask on the line against nothing.

Jericho has expressed interest in feuding with Rey before Wrestlemania. The wheels for this have been set in motion for a long time. Rey was expected to be moved to SD come the draft, so they moved Jericho as well. Likely, they also had part of, if not the whole mask angle idea, so they needed to get the middlecard title on Rey. They weren't doing anything with the IC and Rey wasn't feuding with anyone, so they put it on him and moved him to SD, swapping the IC and US titles.

They couldn't have had Jericho just beat someone else for the title, then feud with Rey on this. That would've made Jericho look more like a middlecarder if he beat an MVP or Kofi type. So they had them fight 3 matches. Rey won the first one to show he was Jericho's equal, Jericho won the next two to win the best of 3. Jericho looks strong now, winning the IC for the 9th time, and beating Rey for the title and in his rematch. Now comes desperation. Rey, sad to lose the best of 3, wants one more shot and Jericho, now in power, can make Rey put his mask on the line and potentially get what he wants.

The end result will be, Rey wins the title and keeps his mask (the one I'm predicting will happen) or Rey loses and is de-masked. I really doubt he'll lose, the WWE would lose millions on merch alone, and we all saw what it did for Rey in WCW. It should also end the feud and they'll go their separate ways with Rey being the one to staying in the middle card. Jericho, fresh off a strong feud with Rey will probably feud with Jeff Hardy and a returning Undertaker (another opponent Jericho has mentioned he'd like to face) and I think depending if Hardy does leave, he could feud with a still face Punk (I think he'll turn heel at some point) or a newly turned face Edge. Either way, I think 2009 will end up being a good year for Jericho with a good chance he'll face The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 26

 

[Spillz3000]

Bottom line Mysterio and Jericho are making that IC title look on par with the WHC. I mean did anybody see the promo they had on Smackdown. For a second the way they were talking so passionately about the belt(mostly rey) I thought it was the top belt on Smackdown for a moment. The IC title needed this Rey and Jericho fued whether the belt was the primary objective for this fued of not. Whoever wins at the bash is definitely going to make the belt shine and whoever gets a shot and eventually beats them for the IC title will definitely be elevated as a superstar. At the end of the day this fued is eventually going to give a real nice rub to the next contender for the IC belt.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I am starting to buy the IC title as a legit championship again. I say Jericho is doing a great job at elevating the title as well as Mysterio. Hell I would buy Mysterio challenging for the WHC now. Jericho is doing what is best for business, helping to elevate the mid card.

 

[tLight]

Chris Jericho is the main event.

I would love to see him go right on and take the belt from CM Punk, but give it some time. Vince is trying to squeeze the last drop of Jeff Hardy juice left, just in case Hardy doesn’t resign his contract so they can utilize him fully. Jericho and Punk feuded on Raw last during Jericho's title run last year, and I'm sure they will rehash that feud in giving time. Punk and Hardy will probably go on until Summerslam, which is probably around the same time Jericho and Mysterio's feud will end. Perfect time to set up for Punk and Jericho.

Jericho is one of the most varsity wrestlers in the WWE today, he doesn't need a title to still be a top contender, and when he is champ, he's GOLDEN. And although his current gimmick would have you believe he doesn’t care about anything but himself, you can tell he has a true passion for the business, and wants to keep it alive for future generations.

Its just a matter of time before Smackdown is JERICHO