Since it’s Sunday I thought I would write about a few different things. I was going to talk about Chris Jericho’s leave of absence and then what ever hit me. But this morning I thought about Chris not being on TV for awhile, and since Chris is one of my favorites I thought why not make this a Jericho column? So that’s what I’m going to do. Bare with me because I really do feel bad that I won’t be seeing him and I think you will be able to feel that when you read this.
I would be lying to all of you if I said that Jericho’s time off doesn’t bother me because it does. I mean every Monday night I just take it for granted that Y2J will be on. This guy has worked through injuries throughout the years. He very seldom took time off. I can remember maybe 2 or 3 Raw’s where Chris didn’t show up and I believe a two of those missed shows were because he was on his honeymoon. So I can’t imagine a Raw without him. But I guess for the next several months this is something that I’m going to have to get used too.
Maybe my feelings for Chris Jericho are special because I was there on Aug. 9, 1999. It was right here in Chicago at the Allstate arena. That was the night when Chris Jericho made a huge impact with WWE and the fans. So many of us that were there knew that the Y2J countdown clock was going to end that night. There were signs welcoming Jericho like you wouldn’t believe. I’ll tell you had Chris not been there that night I think the majority of the fans including me would have been heartsick and angry. But he made his debut that night and started things off with a bang. That was because The Rock was the first WWE superstar Jericho interacted with. What a segment! The place went nuts and from that night on Raw was Jericho. Okay maybe that’s a little extreme but adding Jericho to the WWE roster was probably one of the best moves Vince McMahon ever made. Jericho brought a lot to the company. You could always feel his enthusiasm, and his mic work was something I think so many of us loved and waited for each week. As far as the wrestling? Any time Jericho wrestled you were just about guaranteed an excellent match.
Since Jericho started with the company he has always given his all. However his all didn’t seem to be enough. It has bothered me for years that Jericho never became the WWE champion or the World champion. This is a guy that basically can do it all, yet each time he made it close to the top he got pushed back almost immediately. The day that Chris Jericho defeated Steve Austin and The Rock to become the Undisputed Champion was the day that I thought Chris Jericho was now on top and that’s where he would stay. Unfortunately that wasn’t mean to be. The more Chris gave to the fans and WWE the more he became nothing more than a high mid carder, or an errand boy. And by that I’m talking about the return of Triple H in 2002, and Hunter and Steph were enemies. Stephanie aligned herself to Chris Jericho, which at the time I thought was a great idea.
However, this turned out to be a disaster as far as Chris Jericho went. He became nothing more than the third wheel of this angle. He took on the role of being Stephanie’s gopher. If she needed something it was Jericho that went to get it. This angle was focused on Triple H and the end of his marriage to Stephanie and putting Chris into this was nothing more than an insult to him and the Jerichoholics. There have been a few rumors going around in the past and present that backstage Chris Jericho is the cocky guy that he plays. He has somewhat of an attitude problem, and because of that it’s kept Y2J down. I can’t say if that true or not, but I feel that Vince missed the boat by not pushing this man all the way to the top more than once. Now in the past several months Chris Jericho’s role in the WWE has really been rather lackluster. It’s like the so called creative team didn’t know what to do with Chris.
This became so obvious in his feud with John Cena. There was only one Raw where I felt that Jericho had life in him. That was the Raw where he came out and beat the hell out of Cena. He did this without Eric Bischoff glued to him. This feud did absolutely nothing for me and it should have been written so well. Jericho should have been made to look like a true main eventer. Like a guy that called all the shots and came off tough and brutal. But similar to the Stephanie/HHH angle again Chris Jericho played second banana to the brains of the group, Eric Bischoff. I cannot tell you how disgusted I was watching Eric each week taking away from Jericho. And yet as poorly written as this was Chris performed magnificently in the ring at Summer Slam and then the following night on Raw.
Chris made a statement last week that he has left the WWE to look into other endeavors. He said he loves challenges but doesn’t feel challenged anymore. I can’t blame him at all for feeling that way. I believe he’s done everything asked of him and yet he was mis-used so often. He also said he would come back he just didn’t know when. But when he did it would be with the WWE. I hope that’s true. I believe it is but there are times when I wonder if the more he’s away the less he’ll miss being underused by this company. I also wonder if we will see a better written storyline in the Kurt Angle/ John Cena feud. You know what? I say yes we will. You watch this feud will come off so much stronger then the Jericho/Cena feud. I sometimes think that Vince purposely did very little to make something out of Jericho. It may sound crazy but that’s how I feel.
I’m ending this now with my hopes that Chris Jericho will return to the company. And that while he’s gone WWE will feel a big void without him. I wish Chris the very best and like so many others I’m going to miss him, in fact I miss him already. Okay so it’s on to Raw minus Chris Jericho. There are two feuds that I am interested in, one happens to be the Angle and Cena feud. The other Ric Flair and Carlito. I would love HBK to break the Master Lock tomorrow night, but I have bad feeling that Masters vs. HBK will be booked at Unforgiven, and that really doesn’t sit well with me. I am looking forward to the show, but again it won’t be the same without the KING OF BLING BLING. Streaming Video on !BANG! TV 24/7 Up Now: Wrestle Reunion in Valley Forge PA.
Terry Funk strikes out at Jim Cornette in an interview with Dory Funk Jr. and Mark Nulty. Terry hurls insults at Cornette calling him names and insulting Cornette’s physical appearance. In the interview, Dory Funk talks bout how even though Terry weighs 250 pounds, is a hardcore legend and will fight at the drop of a hat, he loves his brother and will fight with him. Mark asks Dory, “If Terry turns on their partner, Mick Foley will Dory back him up? It is all at www.dory-funk.com
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