Jeri-fail....

[Airfixx]

General reponse to those that replied directly to me in their post....

This is not about impatience (I am TOTALLY pro long-term storylines, but WWE really do need to actually commit to these things if they're gonna go down that path as for some time now the last-minute booking and re-writting of the shows and angles has been so blatant).... Nor that I feel that Jericho's return actually is a 'fail' already (I'm prepared to let this play out and continue to hope that it delivers)... And the promo's havent led me to expect anything in particular. This is actually about my fears for the program which are founded by the E's track record of this shit over the last 18 months (HHH/Punk, Nexus...). Just wondering if anyone else shared these fears.

As for "who gives a fuck as we're getting Jericho/Punk?"... As nice as that is (Just like there's been many nice matches over the last 18 months), it doesn't stop my frustration at sitting through hours of stuff on TV in hope that it'll elevate things further only for it to ultimately amount to far less than said 'investment' deserves.

 

[...god...]

Yes, pre...

Orton/HHH I'll give you, but that was clearly all for the belt. Wade can't be discussed, because well, everything to do with any of that was a loose end. Taker/Kane was all about the belt, the rest is just a formality based on their history and kayfabe kinship. Edge/Kane was also all about the belt, but I can give you that one because Edge found a way to make it a little more interesting than just "I want my belt back". Batista/Cena... I don't recall much being about anything except the strap, other than Batista wanting the spotlight >_>... which metaphorically was the deepest simple shit WWE did in years.

Jericho/Punk being about the best in the world with the title as a bonus to command that label is a fucking treat, in my eyes... because you legitimately have two guys who can argue they're the absolute best in the world in this industry right now... but instead of just arguing/wrestling to prove it, I'm sure these two can dig a lot deeper than that, especially with the puppetry going on with Jericho

The fuck? You basically just twisted your own logic to make every other single feud seem like it was more about the belt in a subtle way. For example, uh well Jericho/Punk is about the belt too because no one can be the best in the world unless they have the belt so obviously this is what it's about. Every single feud I named is far more fucking personal than this shit unless they acknowledge Punk's relationship with Beth and Jericho goes and rapes her in the ring while Punk is forced to watch. Else, you're incredibly wrong except for maybe Batista/Cena which ironically is literally identical to what this feud is about which you deem 'personal'. The Batista and Cena feud was solely fucking about who the true top star of the new era and face of the WWE was (I.E. BEST IN THE WORLD) if you were watching the feud even.

 

[wrestlingotter]

As far as the Jericho/Punk thing is going. I am throughly enjoying it. I think these two's in ring ability and microphone skills makes for good television. Don't rush it, let the story roll out to WM and every thing will be fantastic. I think these two will put on a five star classic all day, everyday

 

[monkeystyle]

Being a massive Jericho mark I've been rolling with the punches on this one because history tells me to expect that Jericho's best work is still to come.

I say this because if you look at all of Jericho's debuts/returns, they themselves have been awesome but what has come afterwards... not so much. Eventually though he seems to find a new stride and then bam, instant awesome.

Look at his last run for example. Huge return followed up by meh until he reinvented himself again as angry, non-smiling Jericho which got over huge. It happened in his first run too.

Not worried. Jericho has never let me down in the end and I don't expect him to this time either.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

But is there an HBK to get him over the way HBK got Jericho's heel reinvention over? Punk ain't no HBK...

 

[This Guy]

I don't think Jericho is back to be the top draw. I think Jericho is back to put over other guys. As Punk said "I have no doubt that Jericho is the Best in the World at what he does, I just don't know what that is anymore"

 

[Axis]

By the way, it's not too soon to tell now. The build-up was overhyped, and Jericho is still nothing special like by the time he left last time around.

 

[Luke Flywalker]

Regardless, he's still far more captivating and entertaining that nearly anything else going on right now other than the major storylines of HIAC & Rock/Cena... and the Punk/Jericho shit, while we can't label it anything spectacular yet or Jericho at some epic level, you also can't label it anything less than intriguing and potentially awesome.

 

[monkeystyle]

The build-up was overhyped, and Jericho is still nothing special like by the time he left last time around.

I don't think I like you anymore.

 

[Axis]

I'm just calling it like it currently is. The storyline has had "a lot of potential" since January. They haven't made any of it yet, and so I think it is fair to criticize them for that. If and when they bring something more, I will obviously update my opinion.

As for Jericho in the ring, when you look at what he has done since he's come back (the Rumble, Jericho vs Kofi, the Raw 6-Man main event, the #1 contendership battle royal, and I think that is it so far), you see many of the same problems he had shortly before he left. Very Edge-like problems of weak offense that doesn't get anybody invested, no real story to link the whole match, a dull body, and then a good-great finishing run. We saw it during the horrible stretch of 2010 that was dominated by painfully below-average main event programs between Cena, Orton, Barrett, Sheamus, Edge, and Jericho. This whole "JERICHO IS AMAZING AND ONE OF THE BEST WRESTLERS IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW" meme that is dominating the internet is painful. It is on the same level as "BAAWWW IT'S 2007 AND CENA CAN'T WRESTLE" and "BAAWWW KURT ANGLE IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD IN 2011." It just doesn't match up with what is actually happening, instead of what we want to see happening to match our preconceived ideas. Is Jericho one of the best of all time? Yes, probably. He's certainly one of my all-time favorites. But the idea that he's a world class talent today, especially with the roster that the WWE has right now, is just being blinded by the past and stubbornly trying to wish our desires into reality imo.

 

[Airfixx]

My biggest concern is that, so far, Jericho isn't getting near the amount of heat you want behind a big WM title match. Had they pulled the trigger on him upon his return, or at least at the Rumble, and made good of the pre-return hype/vignettes things might be much 'hotter' by now.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

Mania is NOT about anything else except the Rock vs Cena and Hell in the Cell. The title matches are secondary and the sooner people accept that, they might not set themselves up for disappointment. If the matches go longer than 15 minutes, that is an awesome bonus. All workers involved in the title matches are excellent workers and can put on very awesome matches if even allocated 15 minutes.

 

[Airfixx]

...Then Jericho's return HAS been massively overhyped by the E' then, no?

 

[Luke Flywalker]

Can it play out? At all? We haven't had one true promo cut back and forth between these two yet. We may still get an angle where Jericho telling us he was trolling us with the videos is him trolling us again and that the videos actually meant something.

BTW, I don't get this whole "incredible build" shit. The first 2 videos took place on Youtube only and you had to be slick to catch the links if you don't have DVR and rewind/pause it. So it clearly wasn't meant for everyone right away (clue #1 to Jericho). The rest of the videos were hack-jobs which nobody in the company was allowed to discuss, acting like they didn't exist (clue #2 to Jericho).

The only thing that was drawn out was the silent treatment, but he already specified all that. Jericho's so awesome he gets the world buzzing from nothing. It's that easy for him. People WANT Jericho no matter what.


Perfect Antichrist story... Jericho, the false prophet returns and gains everyone's love and admiration from nothing, and then turns on them. The only people expecting more out of this are the internet fans who NEEDED the vignettes to have direction and be concrete from the very beginning... and can't accept that they got JeRickRolled.

 

[Axis]

As I said, "if and when they bring something more, I will obviously update my opinion." However, it seems fair to have an opinion eight weeks his debut.