Jerichos Return Status

[SAIYANS]

The story from the WWE side is that he was coming back sooner than later, likely for something to lead to Mania, but that things hit a snag in the negotiations. From what we were able to gather, the snag, which may be a mild term, consists of a number of things. His early 2012 return may be out the window.

The two key problems in the negotiations were that Jericho was looking for a part-time deal that would allow him to do outside entertainment projects without the company having veto power over them, and if he was to get the projects himself, he didn’t want to cut the company in a percentage of those outside deals. Vince McMahon claimed that it was the company that made him a star and should be entitled to a cut, like they get from all wrestlers, and they also insist on being able to control what outside projects talent does. This stems from when Jericho did the short-lived TV game show “Downfall,†even though McMahon did not want him doing it and it was a problem at the time. There are also major creative issues between the two sides that is said to be a major part of the issue.

NBC Universal pays WWE big money for Raw and Smackdown, they consider all talent that appears on the television show to be NBC Universal talent. They don’t want them appearing for rival networks, at least in prime time. They don’t know the difference between a full-time guy and a guy maybe working a short period of time and leaving. So that is part of the reason WWE insists on having veto power over outside gigs. With Jericho on Dancing With The Stars, WWE was able to tell NBC Universal that Jericho was no longer with the company, and also they never promoted him on the show.

While this was going down, what drove the chasm wider is that Jericho was not put in the WWE 12 video game as a character while other former characters like Randy Savage, Batista, Shawn Michaels and Brock Lesnar are in. Jericho took being left out of the game as a personal insult and felt he was greatly disrespected.

The situation behind it is that Batista and Michaels, when their wrestling contracts expired, signed merchandise deals going forward. One source said he was offered such an agreement, but others noted that part of the issue he’s not happy with is that Michaels and Batista have these agreements and the belief is they are not giving the company a cut of their outside projects.

Lesnar nor Savage’s family have no such an agreement and are in the video game. In the case of Savage, THQ made a deal with Savage’s family and WWE didn’t nix it, because at this point to nix having Savage in the game would come off horribly, and they’ve had Savage in other games at this point anyway. Lesnar was originally a THQ idea, and more complicated than any other because they needed Dana White to sign off on it but the advantage is that the UFC game is also a THQ product and the deal was done. With Jericho, THQ did not pursue Jericho because of the expectation that he would sign a WWE merchandise deal and thought WWE would be working it out, so that’s why he fell through the cracks as far as being in the game. Apparently Jericho wasn’t aware of any of this. Having said that, even though Jericho wrote what he did about saying he would never wrestle in WWE again and the snag is legit, and that he’s really not in the video game which costs him a lot of money, some in WWE are still of the impression he’s coming in for a Mania season short run and have not been told differently. The wrestlers are under the impression that he’s not coming in.

Wrestling Observor

Maybe they worked things out, maybe not. This just makes January more interesting

 

[Troy]

I still think he will be back. Jericho is smart at playing everyone and getting the best deal for himself. He will manage to get on the card and get himself a massive payday, he won't miss being on WM with The Rock because that will make everyone a huge amount of money just by being on the card.

 

[Dale]

Jericho/Punk or Jericho/Orton? For me personally given how Orton has been on fire, I think i'd go for Orton/Jericho.

 

[Chriss]

Orton/Jericho. Awesome matches, great mic work. But I think that there´ll be a Undertaker/Jericho feud for WM.

 

[PHX]

Out of those two matches Jericho/Punk easy because of the mic work factor. I like Orton but Jericho can make an ass out of him on the mic while Punk can hang or even top anyone in that department. Then the in ring work part they worked great together in the matches they had. Storyline would also end up being a lot better esp given the Smackdown writing team has been pretty lazy in that regard.

But anyways as far as this goes I get him not wanting WWE to have their hands in his projects. Can't have control what he decides to do with his outside life. As far as the video game though I really hope that is not part of why Jericho is mad because that is just petty it's a video game. I think they get a deal done though or tbh a deal may already be done and these reports are useless.

 

[Onyx]

Well this definitely slim the chance of Jericho returning in January for Royal Rumble. But if he is a surprise entrance for the 2012 Royal Rumble, then his crowd pop will own throughout any pop in WWE of January 2012.

 

[Deezy]

I would go for Jericho/Punk seeing as Punk basically took Jericho's "Best in the World" gimmick and used it for himself.

 

[Jay]

Why does everyone some how get thrown into a match with the Undertaker? A Jericho/Undertaker would make no sense at all! WWE wouldnt have enough time to build it or sell it, outside of "Well, its Undertaker".

That being said....

I dont see Jericho being able to get back into the game before Mania and be a big part of the night, unless someone (namely CM Punk or The Miz) calls him out...

 

[Troy]

Well the Undertaker match at WM has become a thing of legend and so whenever a big name thinks of returning there is always the chance that he could go against Undertaker. You need a big name to oppose Undertaker and Jericho is a big name from the past so it isn't too crazy to think they may wrestle. Plus next WM could be the one where Undertaker goes 20-0 so that is massive and in my opinion he needs a big name opponent to do the honour of laying down for him so he can reach the mark.

 

[rcoot93]

I think Jericho will be back at some point, but it may not be until summerslam

 

[~Fallen Angel~]

How dare people disrespect Mr. Jericho! With that said, I won't watch the WWE regularly until Chris Jericho returns.

 

[Kiffy Lube]

If they are promoting videos of his return but his return isn't set in stone then why in the hell would they be bothering? I say he will be there January 2nd regardless of these reports.

 

[John McHenry]

Well the Undertaker match at WM has become a thing of legend and so whenever a big name thinks of returning there is always the chance that he could go against Undertaker. You need a big name to oppose Undertaker and Jericho is a big name from the past so it isn't too crazy to think they may wrestle. Plus next WM could be the one where Undertaker goes 20-0 so that is massive and in my opinion he needs a big name opponent to do the honour of laying down for him so he can reach the mark.

At this point he's beaten everyone now I wouldn't consider any One man being viable to beat him a triple threat or fatal four way maybe but even then we know who would win.

 

[Troy]

If they are promoting videos of his return but his return isn't set in stone then why in the hell would they be bothering? I say he will be there January 2nd regardless of these reports.

They have made the videos pretty ambiguous so they can change things to have the video to relate to a few different people. If Jericho signs then they can be for him but if he doesn't then they can make the videos for someone else.

At this point he's beaten everyone now I wouldn't consider any One man being viable to beat him a triple threat or fatal four way maybe but even then we know who would win.

True we know who will win but Jericho never really had a feud with Undertaker throughout his entire career and so is one of the few big names left of the roster that could face him in the big match. That is unless WWE decide to go with a younger star like a CM Punk to compete against Taker.

 

[Deuce]

How dare people disrespect Mr. Jericho! With that said, I won't watch the WWE regularly until Chris Jericho returns.

Why would you want to do that? Jericho is one man, yes I am a huge fan but the WWE doesn't have to evolve around him. He will come back eventually and possibly have some more title reigns so if you want to see where they are going with this, I suggest you tune in.