Chris Jericho - Will He Stay?

[Troy]

On Monday's RAW, Chris Jericho announced that he will be leaving WWE once and for all if he does not win the WWE Championship in the 6-pack challenge match at Night of Champions. With Jericho's WWE contract expiring soon and talk that he's strongly considering leaving the company to pursue his career in the entertainment industry, it appears WWE has begun setting the stage for his possible departure.

As of this past weekend, a WWE source stated that Jericho still has not signed a new contract. It's still entirely possible that Jericho re-signs, but since Jericho has acknowledged in several recent interviews that his contract is expiring and he's considering moving on, WWE has incorporated the real situation into WWE storylines.

Jericho has said he wants more time off to to spend with his family, record music and tour with his heavy metal band Fozzy and pursue other opportunities in the entertainment industry.

Jericho has been in this position before five years ago where he left WWE to focus more on Fozzy and his family. He returned and had some fantastic matches and feuds, most notably with Shawn Michaels. He won the WWE title numerous times and had a hugely successful return to the mainevent scene. He has certainly done it all now and retiring now may be the right choice if he isn't in it anymore. He has a second book coming out soon, he has Fozzy and other jobs in entertainment so he won't be out of income anytime soon. Plus he has a young family so it sounds like it is time for him. He can still go in the ring with the best of them but it is best to leave on top rather than fading away.

Personally I think that he will be gone from WWE by the end of the year. He will retire to spend more time with his family.

What do you think he will do?

 

[Keith]

Well I certainly think it might be the perfect time to move on. He has reached his level in WWE, and you wonder what else they can do with him.

I don't read too much into his threat of leaving if he doesn't win the title at NOC, thats just a way of increseing the hype for the match. It wouldn't suprise me if he did win, altrough I doubt he will.

If Jericho is considering retireing because of his family then fair enough, although if its more to focus on his outside projects, that could be a mistake because so far Fozzy has not provided him with enough royalties to support Y2J's life style, and so far the other good projects remain few and far between. I think he knows than Wrestling is still his main souce of income which is why I expect him to resign and stay on for another two years at least.

 

[Troy]

I don't think the match needed that extra stipulation of Jericho retiring if he doesn't win the match. Having a six man match for the title is big enough and there are enough storylines merged into this title match. I don't think he will win either.

I think that he would have saved enough money over his hugely successful career, especially these last five years to live comfortably without working too hard. Royalties from wrestling after he retires (like action figures, DVD's, merchandise etc.) plus money from Fozzy and other entertainment jobs should keep him and his family living well for many many years to come.

The time just seems right although WWE could use him for another year. There are few veterans on the WWE roster these days and the new talent need those veterans around to help them grow and succeed.

 

[Keith]

What I meant is that his claim that he would retire if he didn't win seems a bit like a red herring to maybe trick people into thinking than Jericho might leave with the title. If he is unsecsseful they might even do a thing when he is off screen for awhile claiming to be retired, only for a big heel comeback.

On your second point, it is quite suprising how much diffence there is in pay between the top guys on the card, and someone in the upper/midcard section like Jericho. Also with uncertainty over his future projects that might play a factor in him not leaving just yet too. Yes he should be fairly well off by now, but I think Chris will want to have as much money as possible to secure his familys future, for example to pay for his kids to go to college when the time comes.

 

[Troy]

You know I hadn't actually taken the fact that he could lose take a few months off and then return into account. That is a really good idea and a good compromise for both WWE and Jericho. Jericho would get the time off that he wants and WWE would still be able to use him in a few months time. If used right it would have a big impact each time and Jericho could be used like Undertaker is currently where he has a major storyline then disapears for a few months.

 

[R.D Punk]

If Jericho goes then that is one "wrestler" that can acctully wrestle. I don't know the whole picture but missing out on a talent like Jericho would kill the WWE. I don't see why they don't use him as a tweener? I mean he can get the roof raised and he can be boo'ed out the building and just let Chris do what he wants with his charecter.

 

[Troy]

Well he lost his match on RAW and that meant he was removed from the six man match at Night of Champions. I am unsure where this leaves him now, he was going to retire if he lost the match but he is now removed from this match so therefore can't win. The storyline explanation will be interesting, where will they go from here with this storyline. I guess it all depends on how the contract negotiations went with Jericho.

He gets so much heel heat though I can see why they use him as a heel, his current elitist character isn't really a way to make yourself a crowd favourite. Now with his character unsure where he sits, I think that making him a tweener will be the best. The fans can start to get behind him, wanting him to stay and eventually he can turn face again for a bit once he is crowd favourite.

 

[Keith]

Well one good thing about Jericho being removed is that it improves my chances of getting the winner of that match right, Y2J was one of the favorites.

 

[schizo]

I was thinking that they were going to remove Edge as well and have Jericho and Edge team up together to uncover who the GM is but I guess I was wrong. I could still see Jericho doing it on his own though. Could be sort of like his WCW days, remember the conspiracy days lol

 

[Prodigy]

Hmm it looks more and more likely that Y2J is going to return. I mean obviously they need a replacement in the six pack challenge. Tease a few people then out of nowhere Jericho comes out old theme, Y2J attire and the crowd goes wild. His heel character was getting pretty boring and I was getting sick of it everytime he kept going I AM THE BEST IN THE WORLD AT WHAT I DO YOU HYPOCRITES...I even think Jericho is sick of the gimmick to an extent despite the success it gave him I mean a lot of times we have seen him use commedy in what were supposed to be Uber Heel promos.

 

[Keith]

Thats a very good point, he got away with that sort of stuff when feuding with Mysterio and Malenko in WCW's cruserweight ranks, but not when it comes to the upper mid-card prosition in WWE.