The D-Roc Blog: Jericho walks the line between worked and shoot heat

By D-Roc
One week ago Chris Jericho made a not-so surprising return on Raw .What was surprising was the way he made his return.  Jericho, a man known for his excellent skills on the microphone as well as in the ring, didn't say much.  Besides a few crowd hyping phrases, Jericho didn't talk on the microphone.

It was pure genius.

If you don’t understand why it was genius then chances are you hated the segment.  It's okay because not everyone was supposed to get it.


Allow me to explain the art of the segment. Unlike most things in wrestling these days, it was different.  I don't mean different like we haven't seen this in five or ten years but different because we have NEVER seen this.



The typical wrestling fan has been programmed to expect a promo.  WWE and Jericho flipped the switch.
No matter what your opinion is of Jericho whether its positive or negative, there is one opinion mostly all fans think of when it comes to Jericho, they respect him.  Jericho is a veteran and has been through it all.  It would be only natural for people to cheer him upon his return. So how do you have Jericho come off as a heel?  Surely you can't have him come out and cut a Nick Bockwinkle-like promo that fans were privy to before he left.  They would just cheer for him.  WWE made a smart move by sending him out there, letting Jericho play it up and let the fans get it all out of their system.  The brilliant part was Jericho exaggerating the dancing and the “Yeah baby’s” to the point of having the crowd go from cheering him to jeering him.  This garnered the perfect amount of heat turning Jericho heel.

However, there is a fine line between of worked heat and shoot heat.  Worked heat is the typical heat a wrestler gets when fans boo and dislike him.  Shoot heat is when fans just don’t like the guy that it turns out impossible for that guy to get over (think X-Pac heat).  If done right, Jericho could be the top antagonist to the likes of CM Punk and John Cena.  If done wrong then Jericho’s turn could be a huge flop.  It’s very important how WWE plays their hand in this game of poker.

WWE sure has its poker face on when it comes to the vignettes regarding the return of Jericho.  No one is quite sure what they mean or how they relate to Jericho.  Best suited for a Undertaker or possibly a Brodus Clay, these videos have no direct correlation to the Jericho character.  In fact they are a complete opposite of everything that is known about Jericho.  They are dark and brooding whereas Jericho is the charismatic rock star.  Sure he was proper and appropriate during his last run.  However he was a complete opposite of that upon his return.  There is still a maybe-cliffhanger at the end of the last promo referring to a ‘she’.  There have been speculations as to who ‘she’ is.

Before anyone forms an opinion, they should sit back and see how this plays out.    If they are able to pull all this off then the fans are once again struck by the lighting that is WWE magic.  If not then I’m sure there is a spot available on WWE Legend's House.

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