Jericho: It ends at No Mercy

[Juan]

The Sun conducted an interview with Chris Jericho. The headline of the article reads Jericho: It ends at No Mercy. In the interview, Jericho strongly insists that his feud with Shawn Michaels will end at No Mercy next Sunday. He also warned fans not to expect a "classic bout."

"I think it's going to be a great ending to one of the best feuds, one of the best angles, of all time — that I can guarantee," Jericho said. "Whether it will be match of the year, match of the decade, match of the century or even match of the night, that’s not as important to me as putting a real nice exclamation point on the end of this story that we've created."

Jericho said the creative team doesn't give him a script telling him what to say (practically all of the WWE stars' promos are scripted word-for-word). "Nobody ever gives me a piece of paper and tells me to say what's on it. That is not how it works. The best characters are extensions of your own personality — and nobody knows what I would say in the ring better than I do," Jericho said. "Sometimes they’ll give ideas of what they want me to say and I have to make it mine."

Quite like his memorable angle with Trish Stratus a few years ago, his angle with Michaels has been generally brainstormed by the actual participants instead of the WWE creative team. The article notes that a major part of the success of the program is due Jericho & Michaels coming up with the material themselves instead of relying on the WWE writers to feed them lines. Jericho also added that the angle wasn't concocted "in an office."

"We weren't just throwing ideas against the wall, we had a plan. And that's one of the reasons why the angle has been so memorable. It wasn't just manufactured in an office. It came from our experiences and our lives," Jericho said.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/article1743125.ece


Interesting.

[Tb1]

Jericho is excellence.

[KYR]

I have also heard that he is RAW :shifty:

[Lux]

Another reason why Jericho is king, props to HBK for jumping on this one to

[KingofOldSchool]

Praise Allah.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I've loved this feud, and the ending, even if it is HBK winning, will be the destination at the end of a fantastic journey. I think Jericho might be setting our expectations low, because I cannot imagine him and HBK having a bad match.

This is the first time that I think a Ladder Match has been based so much around hurting your opponent so badly. I mean, the goal of a Ladder Match is to "incapacitate your opponent long enough so you can climb the ladder and retrieve the prize at the top of said ladder," but I cannot for the life of me remember a Ladder Match that really stemmed from issues that went so far beyond what they were climbing for.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio comes close, but at the end of the day, getting those child custody papers (groan) was the goal of the evening. While winning might be important for Jericho, I can see HBK more concerned with trying to hurt Jericho with the ladder, and end his career, possibly missing several opportunities to climb.

[TerranRich]

I actually can't wait to watch a live stream of this PPV next week. It sounds interesting, especially with a ladder match being the end to the angle, if it is indeed so.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Personally, I'm hoping that Lance Cade comes out, removes HBK from the equation, allowing Jericho to climb and retrieve the title. Then we get a Lance Cade vs. Shawn Michaels feud, and HBK can personally create a star out of one of his students.

[Juan]

That would be excellent Noid.

[TerranRich]

That was awesome, Noid. Particularly because it didn't hurt my brain to read so much words and letters.

[MCEazy]

Personally, I'm hoping that Lance Cade comes out, removes HBK from the equation, allowing Jericho to climb and retrieve the title. Then we get a Lance Cade vs. Shawn Michaels feud, and HBK can personally create a star out of one of his students.

A good option Noid, as much as i'd love to see HBM with the title, it's better to keep it on jericho right now

[Mr. Nerfect]

That was awesome, Noid. Particularly because it didn't hurt my brain to read so much words and letters.

...so many words and letters, TerranRich. So many...;)

[Afterlife]

I have also heard that he is RAW :shifty:

I heard it was the other way around. :shifty: x 2

[Jeritron]

This is the first time that I think a Ladder Match has been based so much around hurting your opponent so badly. I mean, the goal of a Ladder Match is to "incapacitate your opponent long enough so you can climb the ladder and retrieve the prize at the top of said ladder," but I cannot for the life of me remember a Ladder Match that really stemmed from issues that went so far beyond what they were climbing for.

How about the Austin/Vince ladder match?

or fuck, how about Matt Hardy vs Edge?

[Pardeep 619]

It ends at No Mercy... where Jericho retains the title and HBK wins yet another (manufactured) fan's vote and challenges Jericho again at Cyber Sunday.

[GD]

I hope we have a clean finish.

[addy2hotty]

I hope to see Shawn, on top of the ladder, poised to grab the title instead turn to deliver a elbow drop through Jericho on a table instead. He misses, the table is shattered, Jericho climbs and wins. Before looking back as he stumbled up the aisle on what he'd gained through his endeavours to destroy the man personally.

That would be a perfect ending to what has been a pretty much perfect feud.

[Afterlife]

I hope to see Shawn, on top of the ladder, poised to grab the title instead turn to deliver a elbow drop through Jericho on a table instead. He misses, the table is shattered, Jericho climbs and wins. Before looking back as he stumbled up the aisle on what he'd gained through his endeavours to destroy the man personally.

That would be a perfect ending to what has been a pretty much perfect feud.

With all sincerity, I can see nothing different.

[Mr. Nerfect]

How about the Austin/Vince ladder match?

or fuck, how about Matt Hardy vs Edge?

I'll give you Matt Hardy vs. Edge, actually. Austin vs. Vince I am not too familiar with, but are you referring to the one where the briefcase was raised? Because if so, wasn't Austin's job on the line? That was pretty important stuff.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Until RAW, I could very easily have seen Shawn Michaels winning the title at No Mercy, for the record. They seemed to forget the epic feud Batista and Shawn Michaels had earlier this year, though, so I can't seem them reviving that with the HBK win.

[Rob]

I love how the writing team had nothing to do with this angle. What exactly is it they do? They didn't even come up with the Honk-a-meter!

[Afterlife]

Creative should really only get involved when characters hit dead ends or dry spells. And brand new guys, trying to develop characters or work with gimmicks; they may need help adjusting to the big leagues. Other than that, the wrestlers should have the capacity to function on their own.

[Rob]

Creative shouldn't even exist.

[Xero]

Creative needs to exist. Just not in the capacity which they're currently in, and they certainly should not consist of people outside the business and/or completely oblivious to it.

Then again, Vince is completely oblivious to it, so...

[KingofOldSchool]

I love how the writing team had nothing to do with this angle. What exactly is it they do? They didn't even come up with the Honk-a-meter!

They play naked Twister with the Divas.

[Rob]

They wish they did.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Hey, the Divas have to earn their job somehow. Wait, I think they do that by playing naked Twister with Taker.

How much does the WWE pay its "writers?" I think you could very easily get away with getting rid of so many of them, and instead have the wrestlers and agents collaborate with each other on how their feuds and characters develop. Any form of "creative" should come from within the company, or from people who have the knowledge of the business to get a foot in the door and not need to ask JBL how all the fake blood keeps coming out.

[Mr. Nerfect]

After RAW, I'm expecting an epic one-on-one showdown now. Awesome. The same things can be achieved, only with more clarity.