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Before anyone asks or makes smartass comments about how I hate WWE and only watch Raw, no, I have not seen Smackdown from Friday. I will catch it on Youtube at some point this week.
The big news on Raw last week was the culmination of the creepy The End Begins vignettes, which led to the return of Chris Jericho. Jericho came out in the most gaudy jacket ever seen, complete with flashing LED lights. As would be expected, the Memphis crowd popped huge for him. Jericho soaked in the cheers and milked the crowd for minutes. He got the mic, appeared as if he was going to speak, but then continued to play to the crowd for more cheers. Surprisingly to everyone, including Jericho as well I believe, the crowd continued to cheer him. He went outside for another lap around the ring, and then took the camera and spun around taking it all in in first person. Jericho walked up the ramp continuing to play to the crowd. It was only at this point, after about 10 minutes of never speaking that some boos began to come for him. Jericho took one last look back at the crowd, and his expression changed with a someone creepy smirk. He then walked backstage and that was it.
We then got the now famous viral backstage segment where Josh Matthews was trying to talk to Jericho about why he came back and if he would be in the Rumble. Jericho gave us this gem.....
So what is Jericho's role? Will he speak tonight? What did the videos mean? Who was the girl in the video? What did the red rubber ball mean? What is going to end? Last week certainly left us with more questions than answers. At least with the videos, most of us assumed they were for Jericho. But now, none of us have any idea of where this is headed, except for most likely an eventual Mania match with Punk. I know the current WWE audience has a very short attention span and you face the risk of them not turning heel on Jericho, but rather turning the channel on Jericho. Last week's segment actually lost viewers. I blame this partially for where it was placed on the show, but it was still shocking to me. However, all those things considered, I would do at least one more week of Jericho not speaking. Chances are when Jericho comes out tonight, he's still going to get a huge face reaction. Another week of not speaking will make fans see him as a jerk, and I think they will also turn much quicker on him this time. After this week, they can then have Jericho finally speak next week to begin to explain his return and hopefully explain the videos. Also, tonight's Raw is not expected to be highly rated with the Alabama/LSU game. Next week, football competition is over, so Raw should see a rebound in viewers.
There is currently a video up on WWE.com of Daniel Bryan challenging Kofi Kingston to a Champion vs Champion match, non-title of course, tonight on Raw. I'm a bit behind on Bryan since I didn't see Smackdown, but I didn't like how he was booked on Raw last week. Also, I think he's going to be a very tough sell as a heel since he's so small compared to the rest of the roster. And what does Cole do once Bryan turns heel?
Kane tried to drag Zack Ryder to his rape hut under the ring last week. Superman Cena saved him, but then fire spewed from under the ring. It was a bit cheesy, but fine and was a cool visual. However, it did make Ryder look like a complete geek. I also hate this Kane/Cena program. Kane's motivation is so awful... wanting Cena to embrace the hate of the fans booing him. Cena will Rise Above Hate so he can sell more t-shirts. The whole thing feels so insincere and forced. Why a heel would care how a face reacts to the crowd, especially with Kane's character, is just stupid.
I spoke about Ryder looking like a geek, but he had nothing on The Miz. If I hadn't already made 10 predictions, my next prediction would now be that The Miz is gone from WWE this year. This man has not only been buried, but they are humiliating him on a weekly basis. Is this payback for Maryse leaving? I have no idea, but The Miz is a great talker who has been extremely loyal to the company and worked hard, and now he's being treated like trash. I'm sure he can get some work in Hollywood, and it's only a matter of time before he's fed up with this.
Truth as a comedy figure last week was completely awful, clucking around like a chicken backstage. Please cut this crap.
And as we continue on the buried list, Jack Swagger continued his stay there as not only was he outnumbered by the faces in the handicapped main event match, but he didn't even get any heat on Ryder and Cena. Cena just came in, hit the AA, and beat him clean. If Swagger wasn't such a huge pro wrestling fan, he would be another guy I would predict to be gone this year. He's young enough that he could probably make a run in MMA, but I don't think he wants to go that direction.
Lastly......
