WWE News: Chris Jericho's Hyped Return Should Be Considered a Failure

There were high hopes for Chris Jericho when he made his return to the WWE back in January, but four months later, it's fair to call his latest comeback a failure. His lack of a high-profile victory never allowed his character to completely develop.

Justin LaBar of WrestleZone.com reports Y2J will likely be leaving the company again before SummerSlam. Jericho's band, Fozzy, is scheduled to go on tour in August and he said during a recent interview that his latest WWE run would end before the summer's biggest pay-per-view.

Jericho did his best to make his feud with CM Punk entertaining, and for the most part it was. Incorporating Punk's straight-edge lifestyle into a storyline added realism to the mix, which always helps keep things interesting.

That said, without a marquee win, his ceiling was limited. When you really think about it, Jericho has been nothing more than a glorified jobber since coming back. And that's not a legacy one of the company's biggest stars should want to carry around.

He was eliminated by Sheamus at Royal Rumble, suffered a kayfabe injury at Elimination Chamber and has been beaten clean by CM Punk at two straight PPVs, including the biggest one of them all, WrestleMania.

While some fans will applaud him for helping full-time superstars get a push, they could have easily accomplished that in other ways. Sheamus was going to get a nice boost after his big win, regardless of how it happened. The same goes for CM Punk's recent hot streak.

Most of the time, when a major superstar spends a couple months losing important matches, they eventually turn it around and receive a nice push of their own. Jericho won't get that opportunity since it appears he'll be leaving sooner rather than later.

Somebody like The Miz, who has been torn down since his run atop the card last summer, should soon start making his way back up the ladder. By contrast, Jericho started at the top and has slowly slid down to a point where he looks weak.

It's not his fault, of course. He was booked this way and did the best he could with it. The creative team decided the best approach was to continue building Punk into the company's new megastar.

While you can't blame the WWE for attempting to keep Punk hot, they could have done that while still giving Jericho a title run in the process. He was playing the role of a prototypical heel, so nobody would have thought twice if he won the belt in a dirty manner.

Instead, it looks like he'll walk away without anything to show for his efforts other than one or two good promos. Nobody knows if Jericho was promised anything when he agreed to return, but you have to believe he thought it would be more successful than it's been.

He's still one of the most popular superstars in the business and if he decides to make a return in the future, the WWE Universe will welcome him back with open arms.

As for this comeback, however, just chalk it up as a failed endeavor.