Chris Jericho - Genius or Insanity.
 

First off, I did check the first page of the forum and surprisingly there is no current Jericho thread. At least I didnt see one. If there is one, my apologies.

I just read the TPWW front page and there is a quote from JR...

If casual fans are confused, and having to ask what's going on, doesn't that indicate that its not quite doing what they intend it to do?

Of course the people on TPWW 'get it', but the average fan is who they need to please to keep the ratings up.

Surely you play to people's strengths, Jericho is a great talker, so this seems counter intuitive. Maybe its just me turning into a grumpy old man.

For me it's neither. At the moment I don't think it's making people think "ooooh that guy's such a bastard! I hate him, why won't he just talk to us". It's making them think "well this is boring". These segments definitely don't have any replay value like his debut and saveus return.

Although saying that, they've got me tuning in each week to see where they go with it because Jericho's great so yeah maybe it's genius.

I don't know. I can see how it can turn casuals off from Jericho in general. But he still gets the pop when he comes out, and therein lies the genius, especially if he gets it for the third week in a row. The point is definitely to confuse the fans, there's no way Jericho doesn't realize that. This is all about the reveal.

My guess is they're going to continue this until the Rumble, as fans gradually stop cheering him in the mean time, and when he enters he's all business Heel Jericho. Which would be pretty perfect. Either that, or he makes a turn at some point in the match. Either way, I expect this to continue until the Rumble.

And that's just my theory. Honestly, knowing Jericho, anything could happen here. For all I know he'll march right into Mania as a gigantic heel who's playing an over the top babyface. Or maybe he'll be face. Who knows, and that's why Jericho is awesome. I don't know for sure what the fuck he's going to do and I know there's a wrench in the gears coming at some point.

Next week Jericho comes to the ring takes a shit and leaves. Genius.

I think he's going to have solidify the heel status before the rumble personally, or at least carry on playing up the super-face role before the big "swerve", but he definitely needs to speak before the rumble imo. Assuming he'll be in the rumble match, he's probably the favourite to win it. If he just comes out in the rumble and people are still confused as to what's going on with him, I think it'd make his win a bit underwhelming, with people not sure how to react to it.

It'd certainly be unexpected in a PG environment.

I disagree, because you can easily turn him mid-match. Maybe even take a note from Punk's book and start cutting a promo during the Rumble. With that said, I think he'll talk before the Rumble, and I think it'll be in over the top babyface mode.

That seemed a little too serious for an Iginfest post.

Very extremely overrated, but solid

NFC about his silence thing though, can only assume it's so that he can get face pops until he talks and shits on the fans

I don't know what it means to the casual fans, but I find it hilarious.

I just want that jacket.

I think Jericho is awesome. Funny that people are calling him a troll. This shit is hilarious.

I see him making his long awaited speech after he wins the Royal Rumble. He's my pick.

I'm really enjoying the Jericho stuff so far. I like that Jericho has the balls to constantly re-invent himself and challenge fan perspectives by not spelling everything out for us in one week. Right now, yeah, he could be a heel that is trolling us. But the guy is still getting pops and could very easily be inserted into a top face role, as well.

Jericho can eat a dick, he's taking up Punk's time.

couldn't have said it better myself.

he's boring the shit out of me. until he actually does something, i'd rather watch a divas match.

Soon their stuff will be intertwined.

gross

why does everyone keep saying "i hope he speaks this week"?

he has spoken both weeks so far, he has been yelling "cmon baby!!"

Swiss has always dreamed of sparkling.

Actually the Kane/Cena/Ryder shit is taking up Punk's time since, you know, the championship should be featured at the top of the show in the top angle.

Fixed.

But you know that's not going to happen because Punk isn't "Ratings" or something.

Zack Ryder outdraws CM Punk!

I expect Jericho to come out eventually, and he'll finally say,"Look at all of you idiots here... GOTCHA! HaHAHAAAA.... I'm joking.. joking, you're great, I love you guys! But seriously, you all need to suck on my balls...........HAHA, GOTCHA AGAIN! You're my favorite fans in the world, and I'd do anything for you.... as long as the check's good.... HAHA, Nononono, I'm doing it only for you guys... you numbskull knuckle headed JERICHO-HOLICS! Fans will start going BOO YAY BOO YAY YUUUuBAAAYY, and then it turns into WHAT THE FUCK!? WHAT THE FUCK!? WHAT THE FUCK!? If he's doing this to experiment with the psychology of the crowd, obviously, he is a genius who knows the only way to fix a company is to find out what kind of fans are watching. Now, if he's doing this just to be humorous, he may not necessarily be insane, but he would be a prick for taking up the time for somebody else to do their own segments or matches.

I know a few casual fans that have been casual fans for a long time. They're the "tune in for a few weeks, get a kick out of the show, then just not care to watch for another 6 months" type. That certainly fits my definition of casual.

That said, they both get it. (Or at least what most people seem to think "it" is, at any rate.)

Jericho is proving a point about crowd reaction, I can see him using video of the pops and comparing them to the pops that other wrestlers got in the same arena's in a future promo.

It would be amazing to see him do a promo based on crowd reaction and the fact he gets a bigger one without opening his mouth than the likes of Dolph Ziggler can get with all his hype and Vickie Guerrero's help.

I can smell a huge Broken Kayfabe storyline coming.

Pretty entertaining regardless. He is kind of doing what Cena should be. He has the crowd in his hands and just when they reach the point of insanity, he leaves them hanging. I think is what WWE needs to do with Cena. He comes out gets a mixed reaction, then shows a struggle between feeding his fans by being pure or taking back what is his "no matter what it takes". It's a good spot to be in when you are able to go either way and make the company some $$$

I can actually see a promo like that in my head now, and personally, I'd find that really entertaining.

So are people in here STILL going to say that Punk is not being held back?

I've been saying it for MONTHS.

Long before the stupid Twilight saga.

Yes, and you're STILL retarded.

Admit it, you want to be Edward.

If I could get to the point of his introduction in the book I'd entertain that possibility.

YOU WANT TO BE AN ABUSIVE TEENAGE SPARKLY MORMON SUPERMAN!

Who says this is the formula that needs to be followed?

Hogan on TV back in the day AT ALL while he was champion was so rare that it was a HUGE deal when it happened. That's one other formula that worked. In the early days of Raw, the IC title regularly main evented Raw too.

Punk's got a nice storyline going right now and the most over guy in the company is currently involved in a non-title feud that is allowing Punk to have his moment with the title while Cena stays in the picture. Seems pretty win-win.

Plus, I don't think it's a coincidence that ever since that main event with Ryder/Bryan/Punk that lost a bunch of viewers, Punk hasn't been featured in the last segment on Raw.

It's not a formula that NEEDS to be followed, but Cena isn't someone who needs to be stuck at the top of the card in what will be a throw away feud.

Though I personally feel that the company champion should be the most important person on the card. And I'm sorry, while Punk may hold the title, his feud is being treated like upper midcard at best.

That's not my need to blow Punk, either. It's more to do with Cena being in a position he shouldn't be in right now. He's going to have plenty of time with his feud with Rock at the top, and right now he's, again, in a throw away feud with Kane and Zack Ryder which is only a placeholder until Rock comes in for the final push to their match.

If anything, they should be keeping Punk strong at the top so when he finally does start to feud with Jericho it won't looked shoehorned into the position.

Dolph/Punk is a great feud, but when it comes to star power and how it's being perceived, it's not a top feud. It's a midcard feud.

RAW's still losing a shit ton of viewers from start to finish. Over the past month or two there was maybe one RAW where it didn't slip. So what's your point?

Aren't the WWE title feuds going into the Rumble always a throwaway tho?

My point is that that's why he's probably not featured as much. Not saying I agree with it, but even Ryder has been kind of demoted since also.