OK, this board seems just about split when it comes to whether or not Jericho has a bright future or if the WWF has killed him already. My question is, what do you do to save him? How would you get his career on the right path so he can one day return to world title status? My solution below, but first some rules I am assuming apply:
1)No more feuding with the Rock and Steve Austin (for now). Neither will want to job anymore to him now that he is not the champion, and the feuds are played out anyway.
2)Be realistic. Jericho is on the Smackdown roster, so keep your solution reasonable.
Now, I think the way they seem to be going with Jericho right now is good. He is bitter (and away from Stephanie), so he is taking it out on nobodies. Over the next couple of weeks, he should take out his frustration on guys like Jeff Hardy (who will want some revenge for Jericho hurting Matt and Lita). Then, near Backlash (or whatever PPV, since we don't know how they're handling PPV's after the split) Jericho beats the crap out of Scotty 2 Hotty. The next week, Albert tries to get revenge, but Jericho beats him, so Rikishi challenges him to a match at the PPV. Jericho wins that as clean as a heel can these days.
Then Jericho moves into a feud with the returning Chris Benoit, with Benoit winning the feud eventually, but not before Jericho picks up a couple wins too.
Hopefully, by that point, Jericho will have shed himself of the "Stephanie's bitch" label and will then be ready to move on to bigger things.
Even if Jericho looks buried now, and I agree that he does, I don't think he's destined to return to the mid-card. If you take a look at the SmackDown! roster, it is definitely stacked, but it's stacked primarily with faces. Other than Angle, the only heels Vince drafted are (arguably) D-Von, Lance Storm, and Test. I'm not counting the women, since they won't likely feud with Jericho. The WWF already went that route with him, anyway.
So, what to do with him? Since Hogan and Rock are buddy-buddy (and how weird is that?), they could always plug him into a tag team with Angle. Their characters don't naturally work well together, but there is a kind of void to be filled. Vince can't pick up *all* the top card heel slack, or at least I would hope so. So there's the possibility Jericho might get a top card feud with Rock/Hogan.
On the other hand, Benoit is back soon, isn't he? Maybe Jericho can win some easy matches against mid card faces, of which there is no shortage, until Benoit comes back to teach him a lesson. My only question is whether the WWF will want to do that, since wasn't Benoit involved with Jericho at the time of his injury? So maybe they'll want to do something fresh with him.
Or, alternatively, he could curtain-jerk on SmackDown! with DDP.
(edited by PalpatineW on 29.3.02 1020)
"The thing about gambling is... you gotta be ready to lose. You got 21? I got 22. You got Blackjack? I got two of those."
Jake "The Snake" Roberts
I would save the "Jericho needs saving" thoughts until after the first new SmackDown!. The Matt Hardy/Jericho/Lita bit was just something to keep heat on Jericho, methinks. Something brand-new will start with him on Thursday (along with everybody else), so I'd at LEAST wait until then.
Originally posted by BrewGuyI would save the "Jericho needs saving" thoughts until after the first new SmackDown!. The Matt Hardy/Jericho/Lita bit was just something to keep heat on Jericho, methinks. Something brand-new will start with him on Thursday (along with everybody else), so I'd at LEAST wait until then.
I'm not saying he needs saving (I'm not one of the people who thinks the WWF killed him already), but the question of "where does he go from here?" is still yet to be answered.
If it wasn't for the fact that Team Extreme is going to the RAW division, I could just sit and watch Jericho beat on all three of them like government mules all day long!!
Here's food for thought though....since he and Storm will both be on SmackDown and Lord knows the tag team division needs some major revitilization, how about that Thrillseekers reunion, even if it's short lived?
I see Edge vs. Jericho for about the next 4 months, with DDP and Lance Storm getting involved. And the folks on the board who refuse to ever say anything bad about the WWF will say it's an example of the WWF showing confidence in Jericho by letting him give the rub to all of those guys.
"You used it to shove your miserable daughter down our throats week in and week out...not anymore!" - Ric Flair gives me hope, Raw 3/18/02
"I thought it was cool how HHH just tossed Jericho out of the ring and made him vanish, possibly into another dimension, at the end of the match." - Dr. Unlikely says the funniest thing I've ever read on Wienerville.
Then Jericho moves into a feud with the returning Chris Benoit, with Benoit winning the feud eventually, but not before Jericho picks up a couple wins too.
Hey, why not... Every other storyline is at least two years old!
That's not to say I don't approve of a series of Jericho vs. Benoit matches - but will fighting eachother some more REALLY help either one?
Originally posted by cfgbHey, why not... Every other storyline is at least two years old!
That's not to say I don't approve of a series of Jericho vs. Benoit matches - but will fighting eachother some more REALLY help either one?
No, it won't.
I'm in agreement with whoever said feud Jericho with Hogan... as long as Hogan is willing to put him over. Even with the Wrestlemania job, Hogan still has the propensity to give an incredible rub to his coworkers, because he got just as much out of the Wrestlemania match as Rock did.
CRZ NOTABLE QUOTABLE OF THE MONTH: UNDERTAKER: The Hell you were threatened with as a child is no longer an option, it is a reality - a living, breathing reality. And you all are right in the middle of it. Yes, Hell has relocated to Earth. CRZ: My friends, *Hell* is watching THIS crap take place before my eyes. -- WWF Raw is War, 1/11/99
Okay, this doesn't fit the criteria of the thread, but here's my very, very simple solution...
1. Make Jericho the first guy to knock off Brock Lesnar. End the match with a vicious spot like Jericho throwing Brock through glass, or knocking him off the Titan-tron, or beating him senseless with various and sundry foreign objects. That would make a believer out of most fans, methinks. Of course, this happens in a few months when Brock has eaten everyone for breakfast and beat HHH for the Undisputed Title. This way, Jericho recaptures the belt.
Ah hell. I can dream, can't I?
YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME!?! - The immortal, chilling words of...The Shockmaster!
What to do with Chris Jericho? How about give him the f*cking title back? Let him get some heat before he drops it? How about that?! Oooops, I forgot, that would "make too much sense." Sorry WWF creative team, my bad.
What makes HHH the "undisputed WWF champion" if no one was ever disputing it in the first place?
Ok let's see here, we don't want him to drop off the face of the earth but on the other hand he can't feud with The Rock, Stone Cold, and HHH anymore? So then there's Hogan, will Hogan work with him? Don't think so. He can't face Angle since they are both heels.
So i agree with someone earlier that said he should tag, whether it be Benoit or Lance it doesn't matter. Then make them keep the titles for a long time and bring back some prestige to the tag titles, after all if the Tag Titles can get back to level they once were on, then having the Tag Titles is almost as good as having the World Title, so that we keep him from feuding with the World Title Contenders (rock, stone cold, angle, hhh) but still keep him on top.
Oh and if you have the topic I posted a minute ago you will know that the WWF is having a meeting with Dawn Marie, put her with Storm and team Storm with Jericho.
i say keep him out of the tag ranks unless he gets the belts in one of those "undertaker/austin" or "mick/rock" deals.
definitely keep him on triple h's ass. if haitch walks out of backlash with the titles, give jericho a rematch for the next ppv. just give him more matches with triple h, either singles on smackdown or as part of a tag. if jericho isn't h's smackdown feud, put him in cahoots with whomever it is.
put him in cahoots with mcmahon!
someone's mentioned on this board that it's time for jericho to snap and say he was never respected as a champ. i say run with that. give him a mini program against edge, who kicks the deal off with a blazing promo.
i'd love to see him paired off with the rock again but it's too soon. hogan seems unlikely but time will tell.
It's just you against the group mind. I like weiners.
I'm in agreement with whoever said feud Jericho with Hogan... as long as Hogan is willing to put him over. Even with the Wrestlemania job, Hogan still has the propensity to give an incredible rub to his coworkers, because he got just as much out of the Wrestlemania match as Rock did.
Hogan gave no rub to Rock. Rock is not only an established WWF star but, considering the movie deals, he's the biggest star in wrestling today. If anything Rock gave the rub to an otherwise aging and fading Hogan by working with him. Heck, Hogan stripped Rock of his face heat at the end of their feud! But its going to be impossible for Rock to stay face...he's gonna be waaaaaaaay too overexposed. His next obvious personna is Hollywood Rocky the heel. Or HollyRock or whatever you wanna call it.
FAB, if you or I or anyone other than the crack-smoking monkeys with typewriters were currently booking the WWF, I'd say you've got the perfect suggestion about Jericho. It's logical, it adheres to previous events, and would get Jericho over more as a viable main event threat. Problem is that with the WWF as it is now, I could see the feud going over say 3 PPV's. The first one HHH squashes him again. The second time Jericho pulls a shocking upset due to the timely interference of Stephanie McMahon. The final one HHH pedigrees both of them, pins Jericho, and drags Stephanie over so it looks like she's giving Jericho fellatio in the ring before doing his gorilla pose while stepping on both of them.
"You used it to shove your miserable daughter down our throats week in and week out...not anymore!" - Ric Flair gives me hope, Raw 3/18/02
"I thought it was cool how HHH just tossed Jericho out of the ring and made him vanish, possibly into another dimension, at the end of the match." - Dr. Unlikely says the funniest thing I've ever read on Wienerville.
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I think they'll get the 10k because 1-BC is hot (wouldn't be shocked if they plan the end of the Cody-Omega saga for that show) and 2-a lot of ppl will want to be in on the experience.