At first I was disappointed that Chris Jericho didn’t show up last night, but after thinking about it a little more, I like the mystery. I mean how often these days are we surprised by anything in wrestling anymore? The only two times I can think of in recent memory were Matt Hardy showing up on Raw to attack Edge after everyone was swerved into thinking he was going to TNA and the Kurt Angle video at the PPV last year swerving everyone. Moments like this get me excited and make me anticipate tuning in on Monday nights again.

Mark my words Jericho is returning, so let's quit the bitching and allow ourselves the enjoyment and payoff of being surprised. Remember how good we all felt after Angle showed up in TNA unannounced and how its all anybody talked about in the wrestling community for a week? Remember how many hits the Torch gets after newsworthy events like that? If you go back a few weeks ago they teased 10-22 in one of the videos, now tonight they flashed the number 19 at the end of the video, so let the speculation for Nov. 19; the Raw after the Survivor Series begin! I mean... get over it!

WWE does not owe us anything; they have not announced on WWE.com that Jericho has been resigned yet. Heck, Jericho even stated in an interview that he wants to bring excitement back to wrestling and surprise everyone; I mean nothing is sacred in the industry these days! If Jericho showed up tonight, it wouldn't have been that big of a deal since we were all expecting him. The pop would have been dismal as in comparison to the one we will get when he finally shows up again!

I commend the WWE for this move as nothing is secret in wrestling is secret these days as everything is leaked. I hope that the day he does show up on Raw they hide him in a hotel room and don't bring him into the arena until 9:55 p.m. or so. I don't want to find out online at 4:00 p.m. that Jericho is backstage. Instead, I want to jump off the edge of my seat at 10:55 p.m. when he interrupts a Santino Marella or Mr. Kennedy promo. Now that's exciting!

Jimmy Smith

***

Well said in "Y2-Disappointment." I actually had a dream about the backlash last night. I've been weaning myself off WWE for awhile now, mainly because at 32, I think I've seen it all in watching 25 years of programming. When the divas came out for what should have been the normally-boring opening interview segment, I had a bad feeling Jericho wouldn't show. When WWE muted Philly during the Hardy/Smith vs. Carlito/Kennedy match, I knew it was over. I'm done. I've said it so many times in the recent past, but this time, I'm done.

Jon Z.

***

Your latest Keller's Take on The Internet not being the one to blame for the hype around the SAVE_US.222 smacked of a lot of impatience on your behalf. It might have been passable had it not been for your last sentence "At least when WCW promised Glacier, someone showed up." I'm sorry but who in the hell promised us Jericho? WWE certainly didn't. Who hyped up that it could, would and should have been Jericho? The Internet did.

Not once have I seen WWE promote, advertise, or flat out say that it's Jericho returning via these promos, so I for one am not getting my hopes up, unlike it seems alot of people have already. If you bought No Mercy and Cyber Sunday because of "clues" during these promos that were hyped over the Internet and then you were disappointed because you admitted to buying them only to see Jericho return when it wasn't even advertised or confirmed, then really that's just your bad luck. If you tuned into Raw after having not watched WWE programming for ages because of what you've read on the internet and you left feeling bitter, get over it because you didn't care enough in the first place anyway.

As for the X29 "clue," I originally saw it differently than it being October 29 (considering I live in Australia where our dates are shown as 29/10, not 10/29) instead I saw it as X29 looking very much like Y2J. Either way, at least I didn't have it in my head that Jericho was returning on a given day. Is WWE not allowed to surprise it's audience anymore? Shawn Michaels returned not long ago... No one from the live crowd to wrestling sites expected it. People loved it and congratulated WWE on doing something unexpected, so why can't they do it with SAVE_US too? Oh that's right because everyone wants WWE to do something now.

I will admit that WWE needs to deliver something big given how the bastard son storyline turned out and I will also admit it's a perfect time for Jericho to re-debut, but I won't be crestfallen if it's not because WWE NEVER EVER promised us it was going to be him in the first place.

Bottom line is, people can't decide whether they want WWE to be predictable and tell us exactly when SAVE_US.222 will be revealed or to be unpredictable and let us find out for ourselves in due course. I mean, God forbid WWE being allowed to outsmart it's fans... What an outrageous notion.

Culum Hammond

***

Wade, I've got to be honest in that lately I haven't been watching all of Raw (who can blame me really), so I might have missed it being mentioned. The only person I have heard make the huge leap in logic to say that "x29" means Oct. 29 is you. The only reason I accepted it is because I thought you had some insider knowledge on the issue. The only reason I thought Chris Jericho was returning is because you spoke of it as if it was a foregone conclusion. Please understand, I'm not trying to blame you for this or anything like that - I'm just saying (and I don't know how many others this is true of as well) that you are the only source of information I've had about this - I haven't heard Jim Ross speculate about what "x29" might mean or who that might be. (As I said, I haven't been watching every sketch, much less every minute of the horrible broadcasts, so that could actually be the case).

Brad Adcock

WK: I definitely did not report on it as a foregone conclusion. I expected it was likely - and said nothing more than that. My opinion was based on people's interpretation of clues, Jericho's coy responses to questions about it in all of the interviews he's done over the past week, the X29 clue on last week's SaveUs video, and the fact that Jericho was five minutes from the arena last night. (And thinking WWE knew better than to drag this on any longer.) But when asked, including on Fight Network Radio last night, I did not indicate any inside confirmation. I considered myself in this case in the same boat as the thousands chanting his name at the arena. My analysis of this situation has to do with what's best for WWE's business and the fans, not some princple of truthfulness or presonal disappointment. WWE put on a lousy episode of Raw and built up expectations for Jericho among their fanbase whether they intended or not (how could they not know), and now fans are disappointed. Like with Glacier, the hype is at risk of going on too long. Unlike Glacier, if Jericho shows up with the SaveUs video as his introduction, then the payoff will be better than Ray Lloyd, so all may be forgiven. But if fans get excited only to be let down too many times, it could work against WWE's goal. It might be too cute and drawn out in the end.

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