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Old 04-08-2021, 03:14 PM   #1
Reacher
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Jericho should have been the heir apparent to The Rock and Steve Austin
Jericho ticked every single relevant box needed.

1) His character as a face was similar to that of Austin, The Rock, and Undertaker, in that, his face persona was extremely similar to his heel character which helped him stay over as a face big time. This is one reason why guys like Triple H, Angle, Eddie Guerrero, Lesnar, and Orton were unable to get over as main event faces to the same extent that their heel sides did: Their characters deviated too much as faces which ultimately and gradually reduced their heat. Even CM Punk fit into this category of not being able to keep his steam as a face. Jericho had a huge advantage here.
2) Jericho wasn’t a chode backstage and had the respect of his peers (unlike Orton)
3) Jericho wasn’t a druggie who was a company risk (like Kurt Angle and the late great Eddie Guerrero).
4) Jericho was capable of having 5 star matches with pretty much any style of wrestler (unlike RVD and Cena)
5) Jericho was solid on the mic (unlike Batista and Roman Reigns)
6) Jericho was small but not THAT small (like a Daniel Bryan or a Rey Mysterio).

Long story short, for all of the things that Jericho accomplished in the WWE, he was actually one of the most underused and underutilized wrestlers in WWE history. The guy was over like a mother fucker. His world title victory over Triple H in 2000 should have counted, and he should never have turned heel in 2001 when him and The Rock were beefing. If the WWE had played it smart, they would have had face Jericho go over heel Austin in the Main Event of Wrestlemania 18. Austin and Hunter should have switched spots on the card. Jericho could have been the natural heir apparent to The Rock and Stone Cold, and the WWE could have kept the Attitude Era going. Then, in 2005 or 2006, you could have had a face or heel Jericho pass the torch to Cena.
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Old 04-08-2021, 03:27 PM   #2
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I don't think so. Jericho is more of a Flair/HBK/Bret/Bryan type star. Not really the BOX OFFICE DRAW like a Rock/Austin/Hogan/Cena.
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Old 04-08-2021, 03:31 PM   #3
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I don't think so. Jericho is more of a Flair/HBK/Bret/Bryan type star. Not really the BOX OFFICE DRAW like a Rock/Austin/Hogan/Cena.
Jericho got a HUGE pop when he defeated Triple H in the phantom title victory in 2000, and was also getting the mass majority of cheers against The Rock when they fought as faces back in 2001. You might be right with your comments but I think Jericho would have given the WWE its best shot in terms of “keeping the party going” after The Rock and Austin.
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Old 04-08-2021, 03:36 PM   #4
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Yeah that was a huge pop. But factor in the environment. A title change in the middle of Raw in 2000, the possibility was nill that it would ever happen, the crowd would have popped for whomever they chose to give that moment too. Especially Jericho though because he was the underdog's fan choice.

I don't think there is any was to say Jericho didn't have the run he deserved. He's been impeccable for most of his career. He struggled at the start but after his first Mania main event he started to find his true footing. I guess he sometimes got lost in the MITB shuffle in certain years but he had legendary moments in WWE. And once he left WWE he has had his best run yet in AEW when he was World Champion. And just as he started to get stale, last night he shredded an amazing promo and turned babyface in a way only he can do.
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Old 04-08-2021, 04:14 PM   #5
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Yeah that was a huge pop. But factor in the environment. A title change in the middle of Raw in 2000, the possibility was nill that it would ever happen, the crowd would have popped for whomever they chose to give that moment too. Especially Jericho though because he was the underdog's fan choice.

I don't think there is any was to say Jericho didn't have the run he deserved. He's been impeccable for most of his career. He struggled at the start but after his first Mania main event he started to find his true footing. I guess he sometimes got lost in the MITB shuffle in certain years but he had legendary moments in WWE. And once he left WWE he has had his best run yet in AEW when he was World Champion. And just as he started to get stale, last night he shredded an amazing promo and turned babyface in a way only he can do.
Don’t get me wrong - I think Jericho has had an excellent career filled with many spectacular moments and 4.5 star matches (along with a good number of 5’s as well). I just think he could have and should have been so much more. In 2000 for instance, the WWE spent the first half of that year trying to use Jericho’s momentum to get Benoit over when what they should have been doing is having Jericho finally going over Benoit in a convincing way. He should have gone over Angle in a similar way. Being over as a main-event caliber face is an almost impossible task and very few wrestlers really truly achieve that. Just ask Roman Reigns. Just ask John Cena as to how difficult he found this outside of the child demographic.

Jericho and RVD were literally the only two guys that were way over in this regard and unlike RVD, Jericho could work all styles with any wrestler. Unfortunately, the WWE elected to go with Hunter as their top guy, but the problem with Hunter is that his character as a face was very bland. Was nothing like his heel character at all, and so when the WWE decided to “trust the analytics” and make Hunter their guy (I.e. Triple H consistently drew the highest rated segments on TV in 2000), they didn’t take into account that the fans loved HEEL Triple H and that there would still be tons of questions marks associated with him as a babyface.

Ultimately, I think Vince didn’t commit to Jericho because
1) He wasn’t American
2) He wasn’t quite big enough
3) Triple H was Vince’s Son-in-Law and so pushing Jericho ahead of Hunter might have served as a conflict of interest? (I’m speculating on this one).
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Old 04-08-2021, 04:51 PM   #6
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I think Jericho in Vince's eyes is primarily a heel. I would say for the majority of his WWE run that's what he played. Jericho really isn't a mainstream babyface through and through. He naturally is inclined to play a whiny, cowardly or evil heel. His babyface moments are fleeting, and when compared to a typical WWE lead babyface like Cena, Batista or Roman, the type of crowd support heavily favors a guy like that as opposed to a guy who's primary talent is talking you into the seat.

Again I think Jericho as a performer is more along the lines of a high caliber worker like Flair, HBK, Hart, and Bryan. All of those guys have played lead babyface but not for very long periods of time, and in most cases were better used as heels. It's at least arguable for each of them.

It's really tough to compare Jericho to a guy like Roman and Cena, they are just built and wired and programed differently.

And going back and referencing whatever WWE was doing with Jericho and Benoit in 2000 doesn't really matter. It wasn't a main event program and wasn't intended to be. They were programed with the IC and Euro titles if I remember correctly. Far from the main event scene at that time.

And as you mentioned about Roman and Cena not having an easy run at believable baby faces, Cena absolutely was even when half the crowd was against him. To Vince he was the main babyface, and as we see now it doesn't matter what the audience thinks there is really only one person who's opinion matters, and Vince never saw Jericho as a company leading babyface.
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Old 04-09-2021, 01:48 PM   #7
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They tried. He wasn’t over like that, and never did get to be that over to that level. Jericho is a nice piece you can literally plug anywhere, give anything and he’ll usually not just make it work, but make it better than it ever had any business being. Jericho was the guy who worked with the top guys for 2 decades, but was never thee top guy. He’s top guy adjacent.
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Old 04-09-2021, 05:34 PM   #8
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Ive thought about this a lot the past day. I think the premise is wrong.

Yes the dusty finish on Jericho winning the title was a mistake but even if you undo the finish of that match it still doesnt make Jericho the top guy. It makes him the champion. But neither Austin or Rocks time had come to pass the torch. We can say in hindsight that passing would have paid off but in that moment we wouldve thought ausitn and rock would have another 15 years in front of them.

so to say they should have been prepping Jericho to be the next guy, irrelevant if i think he could have handled it or not, I cant commit to that. There was no reason to derail either Austin or Rock in 2000. your focus should have been on building guys to job to those two not to replace them.
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Old 04-09-2021, 06:14 PM   #9
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Shame Reacher isnt here to respond I think we could have had a really fun dialogue on this topic
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Old 04-10-2021, 08:18 PM   #10
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I liked Jericho at the time, but he hadn’t grown into himself yet. A lot of the time, yes, his booking was horrible. But he did himself no favors in 2002 with that run. He hadn’t worked out how to carry himself like a main eventer.
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