WWE RAW 1/2/2012 - itbegins...with Punk vs. Ziggler

[somehetero]

Clay gonna replace Kane?

 

[J.J.]

Love commercials in middle of the main event.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Everyone knew Jericho coming back would get a pop. Instead of the typical route of either insulting the crowd or taking out Punk he just did whatever he could to annoy the crowd from cheering to booing.

This. Him running down the crowd or taking out Punk would have gotten him cheered regardless.

 

[MizisAwesome]

Did JR intentionally spoil it at 9:37 or so on Twitter?
Look who's back....Chris Jericho....during half time of Fiesta Bowl. Nice timing. Will crowd be booing by time Y2J leaves the ring?

 

[Remy LaCroix]

No Brodus Clay?

 

[The Brain]

The level at which some people will try to defend a shit segment is particularly disgusting

You know damn well most people here are going to create a bunch of threads all week long speculating as to what Jericho was doing. They will all look forward to Raw next week and tune in to find out. What's the problem?

 

[Ellye]

Okay, thinking a bit more rationally now, I think I "got" it.

They want Chris Jericho as a heel. But they know that in his return he would get cheered a lot.

So in this first night they let the crowd cheer him until they get tired of it. Let everyone know that he's back, and let the initial flow of "omg-he's-back" die down a bit.
Then he can proceed to be the proper heel they want him to be, next week.

I... don't think this is the most brilliant way to go, but I guess this might be what's happening. Or, more likely, I might just be wrong.

Anyway, I'm disappointed. At least for now.

 

[Chrome]

I am LOLing at people actually trying to justify what Jericho did was brilliant..

 

[Moon Knight]

The level at which some people will try to defend a shit segment is particularly disgusting

still better than Impact. Hopefully something happens since Kane promised Cena to feel the Hate and he isn't in this match.

 

[LSN80]

WWE is good at builds but they are terrible at delivering.

I understand the disappointment people feel tonight about the Jericho reveal, especially if they have to wait until next week to find out further.

With the long build this has been given, the delivery was expected to be something special. Good thing the best deliveries are done over a span of time, not just in one ten minute segment. It was over the top and dragged, but I don't believe for a second it was done just to re-assimilate Jericho to the audience, or feed his ego. I believe it had a very specific purpose.

Ill wait until the delivery is complete before I pass any judgment here.

 

[shattered dreams]

If Jericho had turned the crowd against him it would have been a great segment. However, if they really thought that would work then they were delusional.

 

[Tequila Dave]

Jericho should interfere in this match

It'd be a lot funnier if he came out, ran around the ring, gave high fives to a bunch of people, and left again.

 

[The Brain]

Maybe - maybe, mind you - if it hadn't dragged out for ten minutes. This was just absurd. You cut a promo. It's how wrestling works. There are few inviolable tenets of wrestling, but when you build shit like this up, you cut a promo at the very least. It didn't have to be a substantial promo. If he had gotten on the mic and ran his catchphrases, that'd be fine. Ten minutes of Jericho running around the arena without a single word? It's an absolutely horrible way to finish the build. I don't care if he does explain his motives next week. We emotionally invested in six weeks of vignettes, and they threw it in our faces.

They want him to be heel. It is very difficult to get the fans to boo someone with Jericho's reputation when he returns from a long hiatus. This was the way to do it.

 

[¡Roján!]

I understand the disappointment people feel tonight about the Jericho reveal, especially if they have to wait until next week to find out further.

With the long build this has been given, the delivery was expected to be something special. Good thing the best deliveries are done over a span of time, not just in one ten minute segment. It was over the top and dragged, but I don't believe for a second it was done just to re-assimilate Jericho to the audience, or feed his ego. I believe it had a very specific purpose.

Ill wait until the delivery is complete before I pass any judgment here.

LSN, wise as always.

 

[CDR]

Good God guys, be patient. It's OK that you didn't get it but shit, atleast let it play out for more than 1 episode before declaring that it was absolutely terrible.

 

[gd]

Still think it could be Harry Potter

 

[Jsaturn14]

Jericho left a heel, he came back to cheers, he got the crowd to boo him and start turning him back into a heel without saying a word. I call that a brilliant segment. You are all saying that he shit the bed, and are pissed off at what he did. That is the point. You are SUPPOSED to be pissed off, and hate what he did. That is what becoming a heel is all about.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

The issue here is that I'm not convinced they intended this to go like this. That's the level of confidence I have in WWE's booking right now.

 

[Tyrath]

Did JR intentionally spoil it at 9:37 or so on Twitter?
Look who's back....Chris Jericho....during half time of Fiesta Bowl. Nice timing. Will crowd be booing by time Y2J leaves the ring?

It was at 10:37, when Y2J returned.

 

[AnvilForever]

This. Him running down the crowd or taking out Punk would have gotten him cheered regardless.

Um, yeah. Because Kevin Nash got cheered when he powerbombed Punk at Summerslam just because he was returning.

That was a shit segment. Period.

 

[DirtyJosé]

THAT WAS TERRIBLE! HOW DARE THEY NOT GIVE ME INSTANT SATISFACTION AND MAKE ME WAIT? THOSE PROMOS CLEARLY INDICATED THAT EVERYTHING WOULD BE ANSWERED WITHIN A 10 MINUTE WINDOW, WHY DO I HAVE TO WAIT IN SUSPENSE FOR A CONCLUSION!? GRRR....

I DEMAND INSTANT GRATIFICATION! I AM A BIG BIG BIG JERICHO FAN AND I KNOW HOW HE LIKES DOING NEW THINGS EVERYTIME HE COMES BACK, BUT THAT SHOULDN'T MEAN HE DOESN'T DO WHAT HE'S DONE EVERY OTHER TIME AND JUMP ON THE STICK AND SAY SOMETHING JUST AS POINTLESS AS HIM BEING A SPOTLIGHT HOG!!! HE HAS TO DO WHAT I WANT HIM TO! OTHERWISE THIS IS ALL POINTLESS!

I <3 you, Nate.

Jericho jumping on the Mic would've been too typical. I like the unexpected.

This guy gets it. Good for him.

You guys are way too wound up about it. These kind of things are always just someone returning. What could he have said that would have made any kind of difference right off the bat? It's still Cena and Rock's world until WM, with Punk and Bryan in the scene if Creative doesn't drop them like turds before then. Not my favorite segment ever, but certainly not a crime against humanity.

 

[The Bearded One]

It'd be a lot funnier if he came out, ran around the ring, gave high fives to a bunch of people, and left again.

This should go on for weeks and weeks and the announcers should never acknowledge him doing so after going to commercial. Then the segments just stop with no explanation given and we never hear from Jericho ever again and they never tell us exactly what it was all about. That's how I would book it.

I'm just happy Jericho's back.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Maybe - maybe, mind you - if it hadn't dragged out for ten minutes. This was just absurd. You cut a promo. It's how wrestling works. There are few inviolable tenets of wrestling, but when you build shit like this up, you cut a promo at the very least. It didn't have to be a substantial promo. If he had gotten on the mic and ran his catchphrases, that'd be fine. Ten minutes of Jericho running around the arena without a single word? It's an absolutely horrible way to finish the build. I don't care if he does explain his motives next week. We emotionally invested in six weeks of vignettes, and they threw it in our faces.

It's Jericho, he's a selfish pompous prick whether or not he is a heel or face.

He's not some supernatural monster with dark intentions. His only intention is to make himself feel better than everyone else. He did that masterdfully. I feel like an ass that I was excited for a moment to see him.

We all got worked.

 

[Y-2-Jay]

Jericho left a heel, he came back to cheers, he got the crowd to boo him and start turning him back into a heel without saying a word. I call that a brilliant segment. You are all saying that he shit the bed, and are pissed off at what he did. That is the point. You are SUPPOSED to be pissed off, and hate what he did. That is what becoming a heel is all about.

They wasn't booing Jericho in the way you think it was more that they was disappointed that he didn't say anything.

 

[Harthan]

You know damn well most people here are going to create a bunch of threads all week long speculating as to what Jericho was doing. They will all look forward to Raw next week and tune in to find out. What's the problem?

You're subscribing to the idea that all talk is good talk. It isn't.

If this was the first thing that happened in this entire build, it's a different story. If Jericho had shown up out of nowhere and done that, no vignettes - fine. Fantastic, even. I'd love it.

This was a set up move when we're clearly in the midgame of the story. There was far too much emotional investment here for them not to give us anything of substance. And no, finding out that it's Jericho is not substantial enough. Not at this stage of the game.