How long has Jericho been a heel with this current gimmick? I'm pretty sure its been a while already and I have to disagree with you on any claim its growing stale, because its been quite effective.
Obviously, this will be a scenario where it is to each their own, about what they find to be an intriguing heel. The type of character he is portraying simply doesn't appeal to me personally, however like I have also demonstrated, he doesn't draw in the big scheme of things, either.
I think you're far too focused on what Jericho's wearing, which really doesn't matter in the least, and not enough on his actual gimmick here. I believe Jericho's doing a great job of playing his part and getting the reactions he's suppose to be getting, and the fact you (and anyone else) are reacting negatively to his character proves he's playing the part just fine. People do tune in to watch Jericho, and they do tune in to see him get beaten. I think the WWE has complete faith in Jericho and this new direction his characters been going, and I think thats easily seen by the feuds he's been in, the title reigns he's had, and the amount of television time he's been given.
The only thing I will say is that if WWE had "complete faith" in Jericho as either a top face or a top heel, and if his fanbase think he is going to be one of the Greatest of All Time, then I need someone to explain to me why he has only headlined one Wrestlemania, that being 7 years ago, and hasn't been anywhere near the Main Event of a Mania since. Why has a younger guy like, like Randy Orton or John Cena for instance, Main Evented and been featured in more title matches than Chris Jericho? Jericho's been around longer than all of them. What is the excuse?
I really think to judge Jericho's legacy as a heel you have to judge it by his entire career. He was a phenomenal heel in WCW.
I am glad you brought this up, as I have been accused of being a Jericho hater by his fans, and that simply is not true.
I absolutely loved Chris Jericho as a Heel in WCW. That gimmick was absolutely phenomenal. He was creative. He was funny. As a matter of fact, I think his best Heel work has been not in WWE, but rather in WCW.
But the problem I have is with this particular character he is playing right now. It just does not click with me at all. I am not impressed with it. It isn't original. And I am simply bored with it. It does nothing for me, whatsoever.
I think you're highly Under-rating Jericho and its a shame.
There is a fine line between not liking Chris Jericho as a person ... and not liking a certain character he is playing. Right now, it is the later for me. I don't like this character at all. I know Jericho is capable of a lot better than this (although it isn't his fault, because he is stuck with whatever character Creative tells him to be). I have seen a lot better out of Jericho. That was why I said, I mostly blame WWE Creative for this particular persona.
And before we continue, it is not a problem of me "not getting" the gimmick. I get it. I get the gimmick 100%. Everything 100% opposite of the old Chris Jericho. However, if your gimmick is supposed to be "as exciting as watching paint dry" ... you are still essentially as "exciting as watching paint dry". It's a boring gimmick.
The biggest problems I have with the gimmick are in this order:
1) Monotone Voice- which puts me to sleep.
2) Repetitive sound bites-
"I am the best wrestler in the world today."
"You are all hypocrites."
"You are all parasites."
"I was the 2008 Superstar of the Year."
It is not hard to come out every single week and say the exact same soundbites over, and over, and over again. It isn't Creative. It isn't Original. And like I said, I know Jericho is better than this. Show me something.
3) The Business Suits- Heels in a business suit are completely over-done and exhausted these days. Vary the wardrobe and stand out from the Mr. McMahon's, the Triple H's, the Ric Flair's, the Batista's, the MVP's, the William Regal's. Be your own person.
Sgt. Slaughter was only over as a heel because of an Anti-American gimmick during a very tense time for the country in that aspect, I don't think that makes a great heel. It makes an easy one.
Very true, and I won't argue that.
Sgt. Slaughter received cheap heat. But so does Jericho in this day and age ... by dressing up in a suit (cheap heel tactic), and uttering the same soundbites on a weekly basis (Rick Rude- "What I'd like to have right now ...")
Slaughter did have two advantages, though. First and foremost was the Iraq War.
Secondly, he was a military character for his entire career, with wrestling, as well as the GI Joe character. Therefore, it wasn't like he was just ushered into a War gimmick out of nowhere. He simply became a traitor to his own country, and he got a ton of heat.
However, Slaughter's promos were absolutely intense. And that is what helped him sell the gimmick effectively ... unlike a Vladimir Kozlov, for instance, that simply expects to get heat simply by being a "Russian".
Slaughter portrayed that gimmick so effectively, he was receiving death threats during that time. That is why, like him or not for having a degree of cheap heat, he will go down as one of wrestling's greatest Heels, and will be remembered for being one of the WWE's most Despised Heels of all time.
Speaking of which, let's revisit one of his more intense promos he cut right before his title match with the Ultimate Warrior, in which he went on to win the title.
The match then follows. The heat in this match is off the charts. Seeing Slaughter get his ass kicked throughout the entire match, with Warrior tearing the Iraqi flag apart, then stuffing the pieces down Slaughter's throat, while throwing him from one side of the ring to the other .... this is truly one of the most memorable title matches of all time in the Hogan Era for the heat in this match.
Then, after all of that, the end where Slaughter actually wins the title, was just incredible. All the heat returned with the crowd chanting "Bullshit!! Bullshit!!" as Slaughter he pointed his finger saying "I told you! I told you I was going to be the World Wrestling Federation Champion!!'
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevanc...tle_ultimate-warrior-vs-sgt-slaughter-w_sport
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevanc...tzu_ultimate-warrior-vs-sgt-slaughter-w_sport
Then, his victory celebration backstage.
http://www.dailymotion.com/user/TSteck160/video/x3vu7n?hmz=707265766e657874
I won't argue against Flair, Dibiase, or Piper who I would definitely put as three of the top heels of all time in wrestling.. but I still think Jericho has his place on that list and deserves far more credit then you're giving him.
Jericho is definitely never going to touch, or come anywhere near close to Flair, Dibiase, or Piper in terms of Heel Status. It just isn't going to happen. To be fair to him, it is a Hell of a lot harder to be a successful Heel in this day and age, then it was in the Era of Kayfabe. However, it is still possible. Jericho just has to find that nitch.
Randy Orton and WWE, found that nitch with his psycho character. They did something that hasn't been done in years, with a psychotic character, however that was truly the best version of any psychotic character WWE ever had. And they threw it all away. Mind boggling, and complete, utter, incompetence. Especially, with how difficult it is to be a successful Face or Heel in this day and age.
Jericho, I feel, has the potential to probably be in the Top 20 Heels of All Time. I wouldn't rank him in this list currently, but by the time he finishes his career, he could get there. He just has to work harder at it, and play ball with Creative to allow them to give him the push to get there.
Who does draw? There's a very short list of people you could claim, and give proof of it, effect anything in terms of buyrates or attendance or that do or do not "draw". Name me a list of people the WWE would be effected in ratings or buyrates by if based on them being around. You don't find names like Hogan, Austin, or the Rock now a days that effect those things in any great significance, so to hold that against Jericho is ridiculous because you could say the same about basically everyone (aside from maybe Cena).
I would say that Cena draws. There is no doubt about that, as evidenced by declining ratings when he left, and an increase in ratings when he returned.
I would say that Shawn Michaels draws.
However, the rest are sadly lumped all together by fans. Orton doesn't draw ... yet. To be fair to him, and as I've stated several times, WWE took away the one thing that would have helped him draw and flushed it down the toilet. If I were Orton, I would be fuming right now. Yeah, he may have the title, but his company completely ruined his character, which could have set him up for future success.
So, Jericho is not really a standout star, in terms of draw with the rest of the product. He's just lumped in with it. Although, you seem to realize this, since you said that "aside from Cena, who else really draws"?. I agree with you.
As I said above, the same can be said about anyone on the entire WWE roster. Take away Edge, take away Orton, and the ratings will still remain the levels they've been for some time now. Unless you can prove with actual ratings and numbers otherwise its true about anyone in the WWE right about now.
You could probably take away Edge, and you would see ratings go up. I think from what I've seen, the crowd is absolutely sick to death of seeing Edge as champion.
But I agree that you could take away Edge and take away Orton, and there would be little, if any effect, on the ratings and buyrates.
And I really don't see how this is an argument anyway against Jericho as a great heel, since.. when did Dibiase raise the attendance figures, ratings, or buyrates? Yet there's no question he's one of the best heels ever. Its not just about the heel but the faces that heel has to work with, and the combination of the two is what draws. When Ric Flair came to the WWE in the early 90's did he lift up ratings, attendance figures, etc? Did he make a significant improvement from where the WWE was before or where they went after he was there? Yet he's one of the greatest heels of all time.
You do bring up an excellent point with that paragraph. Flair is regarded as one of the best heels of all time, but he certainly didn't bring a whole horde of new business to the WWE back in 91-92. Talents like him and Dibiase did a great job, however, in supporting the draw of the company at the time, which of course was Hulk Hogan.
The problem is that Cena isn't the draw Hulk Hogan was. And Cena isn't the draw that Steve Austin was. And the heels he faces aren't big enough draws, to make up for it, to get people interested enough in their feuds with Cena.
However, if we are going to disregard his ability to draw in terms of Heel status, that means that he have to look at Creative direction, which is more subjective, as opposed to objective material like cold, hard data. If we look at the Creative of Jericho's character, I would have to rank it as pretty poor. Like I said, it's the same song and dance from him every single week, as it is right now. However, much of this is again, Creative's fault, for not writing him into compelling storylines. But that all goes back to them not doing so, because they know he doesn't draw. So their thought process is probably "why bother, if we know that this guy has proven time and time again that he can't draw?" I still place a lot of the blame on Creative for this, though, as perhaps he would draw, if they would have done a better job in the storywriting with his character, though.
Out of curiosity, I wonder what everyone's favorite wrestling historian, the Meltz, thinks of Jericho's potential to be in the Top 10 of Greatest Heels of All Time. My guess is that he probably doesn't think it's a possibility. However, he may agree with me, and think Top 20 is possible for Jericho. Right now, I would say that Jericho is definitely within the Top 30 Heels in WWE history, at least.
