Chris Jericho Returns to WWE: How Long Can He Sustain His New Gimmick?

Chris Jericho is back in the WWE, but in physical formal only.

The man who used to keep talking until someone shut him up suddenly has gone mute, unable to speak unless he’s yelling, “Yeah, baby!,” “Come on, baby!” or something along those lines in order to get the fans all riled up.

Only, it’s become pretty clear that Jericho’s silent treatment is not being done just for no reason. No, there is a very specific purpose behind Jericho’s sudden inability to talk: He wants the fans to hate him. 

Jericho has the WWE Universe eating out of the palm of his hand, and on all three episodes of Monday Night Raw he’s appeared on since his return, it’s clear that he can generate any type of reaction he wants from the crowd. 

Oddly enough, though, he has been able to do this without saying anything into the microphone that he used to use seemingly 24/7. 

Jericho is like a hermit who has taken a vow of silence. We want to hear him speak, we want to know what’s on his mind, and we want to try to understand how he can just not say anything week in and week out. 

This is Y2J we’re talking about, though, and if anyone can pull off this gimmick of being both silent and overly-enthusiastic, it’s him. The problem is that, as great as Jericho is, it can only go on for the short-term. 

While Jericho’s silent treatment is working now, it will eventually stop working if he keeps on doing it without anything substantial ever resulting from it. But no one can possibly think that that’s actually the case. 

There is indeed something huge planned for Jericho, he will open his mouth one day, and when he does, I’d bet my bottom dollar that he cuts one of the best promos of his career. 

We just don’t know when that is actually going to happen. Or do we? 

From the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (via WrestleNewz.com): 

"

As noted before, WWE officials have had talks about Chris Jericho winning the Royal Rumble this year. There was an idea suggested this past weekend where Jericho won’t speak on RAW until after the Rumble. This would see Jericho give his big victory speech, speak for the first time since returning and likely call out WWE Champion CM Punk for WrestleMania. 

"

This is the best situation because it’s a win-win for all involved. 

For the fans, we do not have sit in anticipation anymore, and we can finally find out why Jericho came back and what his goal is. For the WWE, it prevents the creative team from continuing Jericho’s silent treatment gimmick and making it both stole and boring. And for Jericho, it almost guarantees that he’ll have an epic feud with CM Punk. 

The episode of Raw after the Royal Rumble is indeed the right time to put a stop to Jericho’s silent-yet-excited character because anything more than that would be overkill. 

The gimmick is unique, sure. But Jericho’s trolling to get a reaction from the crowd is something that will not last for the long-term, especially if the plan is to have Jericho win the Rumble and then build toward a WrestleMania feud with Punk. 

Though we want to see a rivalry between those two partially because of the potentially great matches we’ll get out of it, the primary reason why we want to see it is because of the inevitably epic promo exchanges between the “best wrestler in the world” and “the best in the world at what I do.” 

In order for that to happen, though, Jericho obviously has to drop his current silent gimmick, start speaking and then rip Punk for stealing his gimmick when he was gone. 

There will be no better time for that to happen that after the Royal Rumble. 

Jericho can win the match, the fans can cheer him endlessly and then the next night he can blast them for cheering for him, leading to him calling out Punk for a WWE championship match at WrestleMania. 

Given the Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s report, it’s definitely the most obvious way to end Jericho’s silent gimmick and build toward his feud with Punk. 

But it just so happens to be the one that makes the most sense, too.

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