Hey guys, that's right, I'm back. It's been a while yes, but I've been fairly busy with some "offline life stuff", and haven't had a lot of free time or energy to write to the level I would like.
But, I'm back. It may or may not be back to regular posts, I'm hoping that is the case, but if not, I will try to write some stuff every now and then.
I have however, been keeping up with the wrestling. I've really been enjoying the Punk/Bryan/AJ storyline, and I feel like the quality of RAW has been stepped up a little, probably to help the 1000th episode of RAW.
But let's get down to business shall we?
Chris Jericho. I see all these comments and posts and what not about "Jericho hasn't won a match since his return" or "Why are the WWE burying Jericho?" .. And this week on Raw it was even brought into a promo, with Ziggler asking Jericho if he'd "lost his touch".
Now, I am, and have been of the opinion since before Mania that the WWE are not burying Jericho. Wrestling isn't about wins and losses people.. remember? It's a pre-determined contest... it's about the performance. And if you look purely at performance, Jericho has been performing at the same level, if not a little better than before he left.
Let's look at the way Jericho came back. The video packages.. the creepy children talking about the end of the world as we know it.. the build up. The hype. And then back comes Jericho, making his return in an LED-festooned jacket. He grabs the mic, stands in the middle of the ring and says.. nothing.
This happened for a few weeks if my memory serves me correctly, and then he gave us just that one line promo.
This was Jericho's way of manipulating the crowd into booing him. When anyone of note returns, the crowd will always cheer for them. The only guy who would still get booed today if he returned, would be mohammad hassan. Anyone else, cheers. JBL would get cheered, and he was the biggest heel in the company for a number of years.
Jericho took that, and turned it against the crowd, showing us how easy it was to manipulate us, and control us, just by throwing his hands up and shouting.
He said he would win the royal rumble. But he didn't.
He said he would beat CM Punk at Wrestlemania. But he didn't.
He said he would win the Money In The Bank Ladder match. But he didn't.
So I've had this theory running around my head for a little while now, but then I read an article on a Wrestling news website, talking about the original plans for the Money in The Bank. Apparently there was an idea floating about that Jericho would win, but then be the first guy to try to cash it in, and lose the match.
That's when it hit me, and I totally got it. Chris Jericho is still trolling us.
All the losses, it's all a big rib. Not on him, on the fans. Jericho is losing every match he's a part of essentially, and yet, he's arguably the most entertaining guy on Raw each week. Think about this. Jericho has been a top star for what.. 11 years nearly? It was December 2001 when he became the first Undisputed champion. The man has been wrestling at least 10 years more than that. So that's a 20+ year career.
It seems to me, that just the same as back in 2008 or so, when he dropped the Y2J gimmick, donned the suit, spoke softly and slowly, and coined the phrase "I am the best in the world, at what I do", Jericho is trying something new. He's managed to lose all the big matches, and yet never diminish in the eyes of the public. If he did have the MITB briefcase and ran down to cash it in, every single person would be sure that he would win the title. And THAT is why Jericho would want to lose.
He said it best on his "Breaking the code" DVD, when he talked about the way he left in 2005.. carried out by "security" screaming and whining and crying for his job. He talked about that being the best way for a heel to leave, and let's face it, Jericho is such a great heel, deep down he always wants us to boo him.
So before you start talking about how much Jericho has been buried, or used incorrectly, or "why isn't he champion?".. Think about it in these terms. This is all Jericho's master plan. He isn't champion because he doesn't want, or need it.
He is losing because he's working everyone on a whole different level to anyone else. We all expect he'll pick up a victory eventually right? We say.. "this time he'll win". It's keeping us tuned in, it's keeping us invested, and more importantly, it's keeping us entertained.
Jericho won't be around for much longer (as far as this run in the WWE goes), and for me, what he's doing with this run is some of the most original stuff, as far as character, and giving us little peeks behind the curtain. I especially enjoyed the little promo he cut about having a lot of catchphrases, and then rattling them off one at a time to get reactions from the crowd.. once again showing how easy it is to manipulate the WWE Universe.
So enjoy it while he's around, because when he leaves (apparently after Summerslam), we will miss it a lot.
Ok that's about it for now. What do you all think about what I've written? Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know by leaving a comment on here, or on my twitter (@TheOzMouthpiece), and while you're at it, follow me on there as well.
Until next time, I'm the Aussie Mouthpiece, and my business is concluded. For now...
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