Why isn't Jericho being used?

[Serious Mozzarella]

I know that the WWE creative is known for their lack of creativity, but this has gone on far too long. I know most of us have marked out for the return of Jericho, and I must say it's been alright thus far.

Of course, there are some matters that have come up beyond his control. Jeff Hardy blew his push and got himself suspended (like a moron) and things just weren't "clicking" (for lack of a better term) with JBL, and I agree. But now they've just stopped using him. Why do I say that? They're throwing already-written promos on the Y2J Highlight Reel when they don't even need to be there. Usually, Y2J's Highlight Reel has something to do with Y2J, so how come he didn't get involved in the Batista/HBK angle? If he wasn't planning on getting involved, why make it a Y2J Highlight Reel?

"Well, we need him to go out there and do something."

We have LOADS AND LOADS of unused talent. Use him to put one of the developmental guys over, use him to go over jobbers, put him on the mic and have him go with his OWN angle like he did in the WCW with his bodyguard, hell BRING HIS BODYGUARD BACK (whatever happened to that guy?)!

There is a whole roster of stars waiting to be put over. There is also a whole roster of jobbers waiting to put HIM over (more).

You can tell that the crowds want to see more of Y2J, but week after week, he comes out in his street clothes to talk about OTHER angles that have nothing to do with him, and have him walk out in the middle of his own highlight reel segment to let two completely unrelated wrestlers cut a promo.

Maybe one day Vince will realize that his creative team is why his ratings are falling.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

Jericho is in limbo because of the whole angle that he was supposed to be having with Jeff Hardy. Jericho isn't the star that he used to be, and never will be again. He had the chance to recreate himself and chose to go back to the same old same old instead. WWE has entirely too many stars on the RAW roster for Jericho to even be considered anything other than a midcarder right now. Hopefully, they will move him over to Smackdown or, even better, ECW during the upcoming draft. That way, he can at least be used to help develop young new stars. Otherwise, he's a waste of time to even watch these days.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

On the plus side of things, he majorly updated his look and style, but the WWE Creative focuses so much on what they had back in the 90s that just can't be created anymore, and they focus on "mighty, epic, classic comebacks". If it were up to them, the Rock and Stone Cold would still be their top stars with Randy Orton and John Cena at 2nd.

So that's what they did with Jericho. He looks NOTHING like he did back in the day, with the long hair and ridiculous facial hair, and it seems like he tried to make them take his character in his own direction - as can be seen with the new look, the viral comeback, and the new finisher. But Creative isn't creative, so they just rolled with what they did with him back in the day. Notice how any new stars post-attitude are just generic "I-wanna-be-the-best" ultra-babyfaces, "I-am-the-best-this-company-has" cocky heels, "Ridiculously-over-the-top-weird" grey area guys, and ultra-squash heels.

NOTHING ELSE was created. Anything remotely interesting either came from the attitude era, or is a complete rip.

 

[Draven Filth]

well i think thats mostly because wwe has hit a creative slump, so therefore they use what brought them to the dance....the attitude era. Plus with no real major competition and marks around the world. all they have to do is appeal to enought idiots and they dont need to pay attention to the rest of the fans.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

It's not that Jericho has hit a slump, it's just that there isn't really anything new about him. Sure, he has a new pair of tights and an awful new finisher that nobody really sells right, but what is really new about him? He's still the same old "daddio" screaming, smack talking, highlight reel hosting IC champ that he has always been. He still does the same 4 or 5 moves in the ring and looks more out of shape lean that he did when he had a gut and long hair. He should be the aire-apparent to Shawn Michaels. But face it, Jericho will never.... EVER get as over as he once did back during his initial run. The ball was dropped during the height of his popularity before and now he just isn't of the calibur to go up the ladder any further. So he will prolly just end up being mid-card meat until the WWE gets tired of him.

 

[Draven Filth]

actually i was saying wwe creative has reached a slump not jericho.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

actually i was saying wwe creative has reached a slump not jericho.

The thing is about that is that creative has been in a slump since the Attitude Era ended. Now they're just bring back old, stale angles and gimmicks. Except with Jericho, they don't even know what to do with him.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

Jericho is like a Snickers. You can change the wrapper over and over again, but it will still be a snickers. You can add more nuts or neugut and other stuff, but it will still be a Snickers in the end. And with that said, you can only change the wrapper so many times during it's lifetime. Either it will be the same good flavor that you have come to love or it will be the same flavor that bored you to death. Jericho and pretty much the majority of wrestlers are that way. When you get over big with a gimmick then people expect to see you with that forever. it would be like changing Shawn Michaels or Stone Cold or The Rock. Jericho is an every week wrestler. That means that it's not special to see him wrestle anymore.

You can put him in a kick ass feud, but if he is seen ever friggin week in that feud then it's just not going to be really special anymore. I mean how many friggin times can you guys watch MVP versus Matt Hardy before you yawn? It's a solid feud. It's a long running feud. They have good chemistry. But it's tired. There are no mid-carders on RAW worth elevating to face Jericho and he aint worth elevating to the world title picture like JBL was.

And before you guys throw up names like Kennedy and Carlito and a host of other talented guys ready for that push, you have to look at this. None of them would have good chemistry working with Jericho. Look at their styles and look at his. They don't match up like he and Hardy did. Jericho would run his mouth and Hardy would be quiet and then have a few choice words. All of the other guys are dominant mic guys or would have the comedic value in the feud. Jericho needs to be at the stick in both roles. he would be better on ECW. Not that his talent merits it, but his style matches up better with those guys. Plain and simple.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

Yeah, but there are people like Kane who was still KANE after all these years, even though there were changes to his gimmick. Same thing with the Undertaker, and the same with SCSA, etc. Then there are gimmicks which go along as though the wrestler never even existed, i.e. Paul Burchall. Jericho is just human enough to be the same guy he was all those years ago, and you can tell he's trying to make Y2J fresh again with all the viral codebreaker stuff, new look, and everything. I really do think they have a great thing going for his character, yet they're just not creative enough to do anything realistic with it. I wouldn't be surprised if they would have had him hack into computers or cell phones or something of the sort with his Save_Us thing.

But they're too afraid to come out with new ideas. No balls, and people are getting bored with seeing the same thing happen week after week or have nothing happen at all.

Seriously, who was surprised when JBL came out to challenge Randy Orton for the title? I thought they were going to come up with something new. Then Trips came out. Then Cena. I mean, Cena can't be put over anymore, so how many times are they going to make them lose? Is this Trips' politicking? So Backlash is going to have the same exact main event as Wrestlemania, except with JBL into the mix.

But why are people like Trips and Cena whose, IMO, angles should be OVER with Orton, getting to chase the title around AGAIN while Jericho gets to do nothing all week, except for moderate a promo between Batista and HBK?

They could make Y2J be a beloved character again, not just another jobber who fades into the background.

 

[Afro-Ameri-Spawn]

Dude, you didn't hear me. Look at those guys and look at Jericho. In any of those feuds, Jericho would need to be the controlling mic on the stick. Whether he would be a heel annoying a face or a face berating a heel, he needs to be that man. He can't be that man in feuds with any of those guys. He wouldn't be allowed to be.

As far as Kane goes, the only reason why he is being given a push is because Undertaker is being given one. Before that, he was being jobbed left and right to MVP, Big Daddy V, and Mark Henry. He doesn't even get on the mic, which is why he's not on the main shows anymore and is being used to try and give the freak look back to ECW. Jericho is not limited by such, but still needs certain factors in order for him to get over. And that just aint gonna happen on RAW. Hopefully he is going to be drafted to another show so that he can go back to being a heel and truly explore his gimmick and get over again.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

I can admit that Jericho is not the same person he used to be years ago. I thought this was a brilliant thing that he wasn't. When he first debuted with the new look and the new (or what I THOUGHT was new) gimmick, I thought it was a sign of things to come that the WWE creative is actually coming up with new things.

I mean, they made an effort with John Cena's "early" arrival to the Royal Rumble, but that has nothing to do with being creative, it has a lot to do with leaking false information non-kayfabe. Other than the occasional accidental surprises (that only happened because we were so used to things being awfully predictable), nothing else happens.

I must disagree with you on your concept that Jericho is past his prime. He could very well be in his prime right now what with the experience he has under his belt, and he's not out of shape to boot. What the WWE needs to realize that comebacks are cool every once in a while, but they just get boring and fans tend to beg for new things. Hell, take a look at Hogan. How many times are they going to bring him back? And what about Stone Cold? When he comes out, he gets the same pop as Randy Orton every week.

All I'm saying is that Y2J was awesome to reminisce about, but now we need to focus on Chris Jericho (I hope you understand the distinction, here). He could be a hell of a heel, but I'm liking him better as a face at the moment.

 

[kieran_devlin]

They didnt even make him just come back as the old Jericho they changed him slightly. Even if he was like the old Jericho he would be slightly more entertaining.

I agree with Spawn tho that there are 2 many top guys in Raw for Jericho to be considered, especially when a lot of them are over already. A move to Smackdown would freshen up Smackdown and allow Jericho to change himself a little more.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

They changed him slightly and made him more human than he already was. This is what I think could make him great as a performer and a wrestler, because it gives the fan more of a change to relate to him and his character. He has the ability to do it.

It would be a bad move to move him over to SD! or to ECW because Trips isn't the only guy with the mentality that SD and ECW are both B and C shows respectively.

Now I want to go off topic for a second and bring up Jimmy Wang Yang. Who doesn't think this dude is an awesome performer? How come he isn't being pushed? Is it because he really doesn't click with anyone? Why don't we have Jericho put over some of these guys as a heel?

 

[kieran_devlin]

Smackdown dosnt have to be the B show because it has a great mid card all it needs is a few guys to move out and some top guys move in, for example id take out Batista and replace him. It could be equal to Raw but that might show up Raw and make it seem less when its been the flagship program for WWE.

ECW is the low show C show whatever and its a fact that Jericho is a big name he needs decent enuf people to wrestle with not some green person. While i have no problem with experienced guys going to ECW to help new people Jericho isnt that type.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

That segment we just saw on Raw right now (4/14/08) - you see, it's clear that they have nothing to do with Jericho, even though it's pretty obvious to me that he is the light in this shitstorm of an angle they have with HBK and Batista. Batista is QQing about HBK retiring Ric Flair, and Y2J is just there to boost things between them.

EDIT: Okay, Batista was totally absent from that angle, so I may be wrong - it seems they're putting Jericho in the equation as the heel - as in The Good (HBK), The Bad (Y2J), and The Ugly (Batista). Hopefully they utilize him as an actual force in this angle and not moderating segments between HBK and Batista in the future.

 

[kieran_devlin]

If its building up to a 3 way feud or some sort of feud that involves one of the guys and Jericho then it is succeeding.
Who knows tho because they never explain it correctly anyway.
They should have left it at HBK and Batista over the Flair retirement, maybe gotten HHH involved because he loved Flair.

Y2J should be feuding with the next intercontinental champion, so he can build them up. I can see Mr Kennedy being a good opponent, instead of the usual face vs heel or 2 heel and one plays the face, id have them swap being Face and Heel through the feud.
Mr Kennedy has lost his touch and is stale so maybe Y2J can teach him something.

 

[Mugatunow]

Jericho is like a Snickers. You can change the wrapper over and over again, but it will still be a snickers. You can add more nuts or neugut and other stuff, but it will still be a Snickers in the end. And with that said, you can only change the wrapper so many times during it's lifetime. Either it will be the same good flavor that you have come to love or it will be the same flavor that bored you to death. Jericho and pretty much the majority of wrestlers are that way. When you get over big with a gimmick then people expect to see you with that forever. it would be like changing Shawn Michaels or Stone Cold or The Rock. Jericho is an every week wrestler. That means that it's not special to see him wrestle anymore.

You can put him in a kick ass feud, but if he is seen ever friggin week in that feud then it's just not going to be really special anymore. I mean how many friggin times can you guys watch MVP versus Matt Hardy before you yawn? It's a solid feud. It's a long running feud. They have good chemistry. But it's tired. There are no mid-carders on RAW worth elevating to face Jericho and he aint worth elevating to the world title picture like JBL was.

And before you guys throw up names like Kennedy and Carlito and a host of other talented guys ready for that push, you have to look at this. None of them would have good chemistry working with Jericho. Look at their styles and look at his. They don't match up like he and Hardy did. Jericho would run his mouth and Hardy would be quiet and then have a few choice words. All of the other guys are dominant mic guys or would have the comedic value in the feud. Jericho needs to be at the stick in both roles. he would be better on ECW. Not that his talent merits it, but his style matches up better with those guys. Plain and simple.

I agree that he should be moved to the ECW/Smackdown combo. However, I don't agree with the styles comments, to a certain degree. I've seen him and Carlito go at it, I liked those matches. Kennedy would be a bad opponent because he's a lackluster wrestler. I've got no problem with Jericho and another mic worker going at it, that keeps things interesting. The Hardy/Jericho program wasn't going to work anyway because

a. Hardy is not a good mic worker, and was practically buried by jericho during the Reel
b. two faces facing off for a championship that won't even go to pay per view
c. Hardy was out popped by Jericho, which is rare, but it happened because people love Jericho, and any attempt to make him a heel will come back on them.

 

[Draven Filth]

If ecw goes back to the "wrestling show" style i saw for a lil over a month jericho would work perfectly there...See thats why i think ecw should simply take the good actuall wrestlers, and let them go out and wrestle on ecw, they dont even need storylines, personally id be happy with 1 hour of solid wrestling.