It's Triple H doing a half-assed superkick on Jericho after RAW went off the air, humiliating the then-World Champion in front of the live audience. More catcalls come out. It's Triple H playing politics again! Will they never let Chris Jericho grow and get over for himself?
Now, I am the world's biggest Jerichoholic. I blindly defend Jericho sometimes to the point of devotion, yet I'm not on board with any of the latest round of criticisms. You know why? Because I don't think Jericho is being treated that bad. Yes, there was a time where I scrutinized every move the WWE made vis a vis Jericho and tried to read something more into it. Most of the time, it was deserved. I mean for crying out loud, the guy was picking up dogshit when he was the Undisputed Champion while the crux of the feud was on a real life married couple going through fake marital issues.Now though? Not so much. I honestly think people reading too much into the WWE's treatment of Jericho are wearing their mark hats a little too tightly. Ever since entering into (and really dominating) his feud with Shawn Michaels last year, Chris Jericho has been treated as well as anyone could ever be treated. Firstly, he was able to punch Michaels' wife in the face with little-to-no comeuppance. Think about it, if that were back in the day, Jericho would have been made to tap out for three months after the incident. He basically made Shawn Michaels his bitch in kayfabe... who else has been able to get that kind of storyline treatment? Even in recent memory, only Undertaker really comes close, and both their matches were WrestleMania classics where the storyline wasn't really much about comeuppance but about competition.
Secondly, he's been given big amounts of exposure, among the most in the company. Last year, Jericho was on Smackdown and RAW regularly. HE even made a couple of appearances on ECW, one of those times to put Christian over. Right now, he's one of the more prominent pros on NXT. You think the sheer amount of time this guy has been on television in the last two years is a sign of a lack of faith? If they didn't believe in him, he wouldn't be on TV. He was the top heel on two brands, and he's been paired with one of the top three guys on NXT.
But then there's the complaint about his latest title reign being a short one. Well, what title reigns in the WWE are all that long any more anyway? Batista's WWE Championship reign was one day shorter than Jericho's, and he's fucking Batista, one of Trips' buddies and a bona fide heat magnet and past draw as a face. Sheamus' title reign of three months is a long reign in today's WWE. Undertaker's recent long title reign might as well have been the modern equivalent to Hogan's year-plus run with the belt from yesteryear. You know what else he got during that short title reign that heels almost never get? A WrestleMania main event-caliber win. Steve Austin, Triple H and Randy Orton the only other heels to walk out of WrestleMania as Champion, and Austin turned heel during the match. I don't know about you, but I think that's pretty rarefied company.
And yeah, the Triple H Sweet Chin Music attempt was pitiful and terrible, and it served to humiliate Jericho. But you know who would have seen that had that Youtube never been posted? The people at the arena. If it happens in a dark match, it doesn't happen. It was a treat for the live crowd, an infinitesimal fraction of the entire WWE audience, to follow up on the emotional farewell made by Trips' best friend. It doesn't hurt Jericho any more than him getting speared to end a Smackdown taping would.
There's a reason why the WWE has been easy to watch over the last two years. The best overall performer in the world of wrestling today, Chris Jericho, has been prominently featured across the board. Instead of looking at ways that Jericho has been wronged, we should be sitting back and enjoying his epically entertaining production. If you're a true fan, that's what you're doing right now. Picking up dogshit is a faint memory. The Jericho we have in front of us right now is not only appreciated by his Jerichoholics, he's appreciated by the people for whom he works as well.
Photo Credit: WWE.com
