Is there any limit to Chris Jericho's awesomeness?

[Guest Loss4Words]

Ok, I know that Jericho has his share of critics and sometimes their criticisms are warranted, but Good Lord, is Jericho on a roll right now or what? The crowds are finally starting to give him some pretty massive heel heat, they buy every 2.9999999 false finish, his ringwork looks outstanding, his promos are awesome. He's managed to take the best of his old character in WCW, classic Ric Flair, classic Roddy Piper and classic Shawn Michaels and roll them all into one awesome package. I know that most people who have been on this board for any length of time know that I'm probably the world's biggest Jerichoholic, but geez, the guy is even starting to surpass my expectations of what I thought he could do with the right push.

 

My question to you all is this. We have seen many posts debating what the WM main event should be and such, but I don't think there's really been a consensus established on Jericho. So my question is that I'm wondering how you all think he's doing, as far as creating crowd heat, his matches, his promos. Did you enjoy the '98 character more or do you think he's reaching his prime now? Is there anything you think he's lacking to put him over the top? Because honestly, unless politics rears its ugly head, Jericho is wrestling's next megastar. What do you think his chances are of keeping his spot for the rest of his career and how much money do you think he can draw if they stick with him?

[Guest oldschoolwrestling]

My main problem is not with him but with the WWF not letting him main event tv.  Why do his matches always have to come on at random times?  Why can't he main event?  Why does it always have to be Rock, SCSA, HHH?  Let the man main event already.  What are they going to do, have him curtain jerk at No Way Out?  Have his match second to last at WM18?  I hope he holds the belt for a long time to come.

[Guest Tony149]

I also think Jericho is on a roll, but he's being booked like a midcarder. I belive the World Champ should be in the main events on TV. Jericho was in the first wrestling match last night. It's a minor thing. Sadly, I think politics will get to him.

[Guest Brian]

He's doing awesome, but should be main eventing. It'll change after Steph sides with him and they start bulding to Mania.

[Guest Tony149]

If Stephanie sides with Jericho, hopefully she doesn't hog the spotlight from Chris Jericho.

[Guest Tim Cooke]

"Is there any limit to Chris Jericho's awesomeness?, Well, is there?"

 

Answer: Yes, the WWF inability to figure out what kind of character they want to book him as.  As I glanced at the TV while RAW was on last night, trying to keep myself awake, I notice that not only does Jericho basically "curtain jerk" RAW, but he also does so against a clear mid carder.  With other circumstances, I am fine with this.  

 

Yet, later in the hour, he does this beat down of STeve Austin that was great, except it wasn't.  It would have been great if the WWF Jericho had any semblence of character.  He is portrayed as a weak heel who you know will always have a ref bump or some illegal oject to win a match.  I am even okay with that because it fits his heel schtick.

 

What I can't understand and won't accept is that if Jericho was once taughted as a highly talented wrestler (when he was a face), why can't he use some of his "Wrestling Skill" in the ring, mixed with the cheating to make him look stronger.  If he goes and jokes about how he is the best, why not let him show it some?

 

Saying that this Jericho is the equiv of cheating, bastard heel Ric Flair is like saying Benoit is about as good as the Harris Brothers.  Flair's character was allowed to suceed in certain parts of matches and always came out looking strong while making his opponent look great too.  

 

I can't say the same about Jericho.

 

Tim, pretty happy that Jericho's reign will end at WM so that maybe this "creative" team can see that he knows more than anyone else on the WWF roster (w/ Kurt Angle) how to cut great heel promos, and reflect that in the booking of his matches.

[Guest Big Poppa Popick]

The wwf champ should fight up n coming midcarders during the weeks leading up to his next big ppv fight.  this is old school...

 

jericho 1, naysayers 0

 

the wwf champ and his challenger should cross paths mutliple times en route to the ppv, messing with each other, again, its old school

 

jericho 2, naysayers 0

 

Fans must want the challenge to win, or for the champ to retain, but in both situations, not because the heel is the better wrestler, but becauase hes an ass

 

Jericho 3, Naysayers 0

 

He must cut good promos

 

Jericho 4, Naysayers 0

 

shall i keep on, no...its obvious...Jericho has done proven himself to alot of people that he is where he is because he deserves it

 

is this the highest he'll go? yes, until he turns again and holds the belt as a face.

 

He's a rare performer who can get the crowd to love and hate him

 

And as to why he doesn't use his skillz? Why bother, he's lazy, a beltshot wil work just fine...and its more insulting.

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

I dunno. He's booked to be this big wuss. I mean it's again a foregone conclusion that Austin is going to win. Which means that Jericho will win.

But why can't they not know who's going to win? Why can't he be that good?

As of right now he looksl ike some guy who got lucky and got the belts and is just cheating to hold on to them. He doesn't look like he deserves to be where he's at and I don't think most fans buy him where he's at. And until the WWF puts his ass over big then nobody is going to buy it.

[Guest Vern Gagne]

I'm really worried that Stephanie McMahon's mere presence will really hurt Jericho.It might help the storyline for WM, but Jericho's never needed anyone to get over.

[Guest Tim Cooke]

"The wwf champ should fight up n coming midcarders during the weeks leading up to his next big ppv fight.  this is old school..."

 

Because it is old school makes it good?  No problem fighting mid carders if he would win without using a belt or other object...plus, the main point was that he is not positioned on the shows where the "Unified World Champ" would be.......the first match on Raw, after a 20 minute interview isn't being used right.

 

"the wwf champ and his challenger should cross paths mutliple times en route to the ppv, messing with each other, again, its old school"

 

Again, I didn't disagree with that.  I do disagree that a beatdown of that porportion makes sense with the way Jericho has been booked, as someone who is a whiny, wimpy person.

 

"Fans must want the challenge to win, or for the champ to retain, but in both situations, not because the heel is the better wrestler, but becauase hes an ass"

 

Your point?

 

"He must cut good promos"

 

Huh?  I priased his promo work.

 

"shall i keep on, no...its obvious...Jericho has done proven himself to alot of people that he is where he is because he deserves it"

 

Please don't....you would make yourself look like more of an ass.  I don't have a problem with Jericho persay as much as I do with the way he is booked and made to look like.

 

:snip:

 

Tim, thinking it would be easier to just look into Jericho's flawed in ring skills than actually taking the time to see how he could be used as a "Draw"

[Guest Tim Cooke]

"I dunno. He's booked to be this big wuss. I mean it's again a foregone conclusion that Austin is going to win. Which means that Jericho will win.

But why can't they not know who's going to win? Why can't he be that good?

As of right now he looksl ike some guy who got lucky and got the belts and is just cheating to hold on to them. He doesn't look like he deserves to be where he's at and I don't think most fans buy him where he's at. And until the WWF puts his ass over big then nobody is going to buy it."

 

You hit it on the head.  He looks lucky.....not a smart cheater.  

 

Tim

[Guest Loss4Words]

Think long term. Jericho is being developed brilliantly because he will probably be the top heel for years to come. There may be others that occasionally move ahead of him, but he'll be THE heel for the next ten years more likely than not. You have to remember that you can't give the fans any reason to respect a heel or the fans will turn the wrestler babyface. It happened with Steve Austin. It happened with the Rock. It happened with HHH. Yes, they are all major stars, but all three are really incapable of being strong heels because they were booked to be so dominant or so funny or so cool in their heel roles that the fans eventually forgot that they are supposed to hate them. Even Ric Flair, as awesome a heel he was, was cheered in most arenas he wrestled in in his heyday. He was ALWAYS a bigger draw as a babyface. I mean, think about how much you liked Ric Flair. Think about all the people that like Ric Flair, despite all the heelish things he has done through the years. Well, he was given clean wins at certain times which gave him credibility, which is turn kept him from effectively being able to heel. I think it's about damn time that we have a top heel that has NO redeeming qualities. Right now, to the average viewer, Chris Jericho is everything they despise. He's brash, cowardly, he cheats, he brags, he attacks the fans' favorite wrestlers, he's lucky, he is undeserving, he's sneaky, he's underhanded, he's selfish, he wears hideous clothing, he's egotistical and for now, he gets the job done. The last part is the important part. That's WHY they hate Jericho, but even then, they can't let him go too long as champ because people will start cheering him because he beats everyone all the time.

 

What is there to possibly hate about a Chris Jericho that says he's going to beat the Rock and then goes and beats the Rock cleanly? Why should I boo someone who can put his money where his mouth is?

 

Don't be afraid of real heels. It's about time wrestling had one.

[Guest theWCWRaider]

I don't know, I think Jericho is doing ok, but I'm really not happy with the way the WWF is booking him.

Hell, even during the commentary last night I had to take exception.

Ross said "Edge should try to end this quickly."

Um, Edge should try to beat the guy that is the world champion quickly. Way to make it sound easy...and the fact that his match was first.

I see your point about Jericho being a true heel, which is why I'm not all that upset to see his matches end the way they do, but for being the first undisputed champion, he's not really getting that much of a spotlight.

Its not a knock on Jericho, its a knock on the WWF.

[Guest Army Eye]

Well said, Loss4words.  Nothing wrong with a good ol' heel champ who has to cheat to win.  If I think back to recent world champs who absolutely never won cleanly, the ones that come to mind are Hollywood Hogan, and Rock when he was Corporate champ.  I'd say both of them did pretty well for themselves.  Hogan's title matches were consistently a big ratings and PPV draw, and Rock's were too.  Rock was kind of a special case though, they had to do absolutely everything they could to keep him heel, the crowd wanted to cheer him REAL bad.

 

Where the WWF is dropping the ball is how Jericho's matches are booked.  They are very rarely on the top of the card.  The WWF is pissing on both Jericho and the so-called 'undisputed title' when they do this.  A undisputed world title match should be a huge deal, but the commentators usually just yawn and mention the title as an afterthought while they're buzzing about what Austin/Taker/HHH will be doing later in the show.

 

I can't say I like the current Jericho as much as '98 WCW Jericho (I don't think that will be possible) but "almost as good as '98 Jericho" is still really good and I'm happy with it

[Guest Loss4Words]

I don't think the problem is so much the way Jericho's matches are booked so much as it is the frequency with which Jericho defends his title. The rest of the locker room may think it's unfair, but the truth is that Jericho shouldn't be defending his belt on every show. I think two televised title defenses a month (one on Raw, one on Smackdown) should be it besides whatever is maining the PPV. Also, the matches shouldn't go under 10:00 for any reason. They usually allow that much time to main events anyway, so every time he defends the belt, it should always be the main event. Also, instead of defending the belt every week, Jericho should be doing a long in-ring promo every week. On every show. Every time. And while matches like Jericho v Edge have the potential to mean something to both of their careers (Jericho puts the beat on a rising star, Edge holds his own with the champ), when the match is under 4 minutes, it's nothing but filler. The WWF can not afford for Jericho to be anything less than the center of attention of every show right now. He's still teetering between also-ran main eventer and bonafide player. The attack on Austin last night was an awesome start in the right direction. Now, up his TV time and let him actually wrestle a long singles match here and there and you have someone ready to carry the company right there.