411 Fact or Fiction 01.05.12: Jericho’s Return, Brock/WWE, Matt Hardy, More

1. Chris Jericho’s return segment has you interested in what he will do next.

Dimitri Dorlis: FACT. I am an unabashed Chris Jericho fan, so anything he does has me interested. That being said, I’m seeing two different reactions to Chris Jericho’s return segment: people who have no idea what was going on there and believe it was a waste of a tv segment and promos, and people who realized that Chris Jericho could be the greatest heel of our time. Just watch the return video. All he does for 10 minutes is get the crowd to cheer with him, without even speaking a word. It was so babyface that it was actually heelish. The one thing about Jericho that I love is that he always manages to adapt, so I have no doubt this will be another great run with the company.

David McGregor: FICTION. This is an odd one because I am interested in what Jericho will do now that he is back in the WWE but the segment on Raw this Monday was certainly not the reason! It is pretty obvious this was the start of a heel turn but unless something huge happens with Jericho in the build up to Wrestlemania then his initial return for me will be a massive disappointment. Some will say that this is a slow build but with all the hype Jericho had to do something, anything, on Monday and he didn’t it was just plain dull and uninteresting. Undertaker and Triple H were able to come back last year and say nothing yet have the audience completely captivated. This year Jericho came off as a second rate rip off that wasn’t a fraction as interesting. I just hope he does something worthwhile or else he should have continued with his band.

Score: 0 for 1

2. Wade Barrett getting credit for taking Randy Orton out of action will push him to the next level.

Dimitri Dorlis: MOSTLY FICTION, unless Orton is out for half of the year. Then it will probably be a big thing, but to take him out for a few weeks, only for him to show up at the Royal Rumble won’t get him over that much. Luckily for Barrett, it appears he didn’t directly cause the injury to Orton like others have in the past (Kennedy), so he’ll get out of it without any heat from the brass, but the feud with Orton was already doing wonders for Barrett as it was, mainly because Barrett was getting victories over Orton. None of them were terribly clean, but I’m not the type of person who complains about heels not getting clean wins. Barrett is going to continue to rise, but taking credit for putting Orton out of action won’t give him as big a bump as people think it might.

David McGregor: FACT. Wade Barrett has just taken out the 2nd biggest star the WWE has, how can this not push him further up the totem pole of the company? However, I think it would have had a greater impact if Orton was out for longer, as now with Orton only being out 6 weeks he will be returning for vengeance in time for Wrestlemania, so I predict a Orton/Barrett grudge match at either Elimination Chamber or Wrestlemania. Either of which Barrett is losing but still due to this he is the biggest heel on the Smackdown roster, if not the entire WWE seen as Kane is going all Freddy Krueger, Miz’ star has faded and Henry can’t even wrestle!

Score: 0 for 2

3. Brock Lesnar will return to WWE in 2012.

Dimitri Dorlis: FACT. If there’s one thing we’ve learned about wrestling over the past few years, it’s never say never. People said Bret Hart would never step foot in a WWE ring again, and that happened. People said the Rock would never wrestle again, and that happened. To say that Brock couldn’t show up to shill something in the WWE sometime this year isn’t that far-fetched, either. I’m sure the WWE has a Lesner dvd lined up ready to go as it is, so you could guarantee he’d be back to host a Raw this year, and maybe even mix it up a bit with someone on the roster (Big Show comes to mind here). He won’t be an active member of the roster, but he’ll at least come back a bit and interact with the WWE Universe one more time.

David McGregor: FICTION. I don’t see Lesnar coming back unless it’s for Wrestlemania and this year is pretty full with Rock and Jericho returning as well as the Undertaker possibly going 20-0. But I think it’s a guarantee that Lesnar will be back for a match or two in the WWE, even if it is just for the payday. If I had to put money on it I would say Wrestlemania 29 for Lesnar’s big return. No doubt he will return in January 2013 which has become the protocol for returning superstars, see Jericho, Rock, Bret Hart etc. So while I see Brock coming back I can’t see him in a WWE ring until WM 29 at the earliest.

Score: 0 for 3

4. Daniel Bryan will retain his title against Big Show on this week’s Smackdown.

Dimitri Dorlis: FACT. I’m writing this Monday night so I have no idea if this actually happens, but of course he’ll retain. There are too many outs for a champion to retain, especially in a big man vs. little man match. Bryan will either win/lose via countout or win/lose via dq. At this point, Bryan won’t be dropping the strap till Royal Rumble at the earliest, but with the WWE looking like they’re serious about backing Bryan as the ultimate underdog, he’ll be holding the strap till Mania. The good thing about this Wrestlemania is, with Rock/Cena already the main event that will gain a ton of numbers, the WWE can put on some risky title matches with some fresh faces, so why not have a guy you’re ready to invest in with Daniel Bryan involved in a title match at the biggest show of the year? Plus, Big Show is traveling down the path of a heel turn in the future, so a loss/win via shenanigans would be the next logical booking step.

Of course, I’m going to end up completely wrong here and Randy Orton comes back and beats Big Show at the end of Smackdown, but let’s pretend we live in a world where stupid booking decisions aren’t made.

David McGregor: FACT. I am enjoying Daniel Bryan as World Champion so I see no reason for them to stop his reign so soon. Also there is no point in having Big Show become the World Champion in 2012 with just a few months until Wrestlemania, especially with the rumoured Shaq v Big Show match at this year’s event. If they really want to get the belt off Bryan there are much better options than Big Show to take it from him, such as Barrett, Rhodes or Sheamus. I see Bryan keeping the belt for a while yet, maybe even Wrestlemania, but that a big maybe.

Score: 1 for 4

SWITCH!

5. John Laurinaitis will be a fair and balanced referee at the Royal Rumble.

David McGregor: FICTION. He is an authority figure in the WWE, which means he is almost contractually bound to keep favourites and be the man that holds the fan favourite down. Having said that, all his interruptions of CM Punk’s matches have been purely “accidental” so maybe he will call it straight down the middle after all. Why would Mr. John Laurinaitis, Executive Vice President of Talent Relations of the WWE, hold a grudge against a guy who held the WWE to ransom with their own belt?

Dimitri Dorlis: FICTION, but that’s the whole point. Laurinaitis has slowly become one of the best parts of Raw, and it’s the greatest thing. He’s a heel that is obviously doing heelish things such as preventing faces from winning, but he’s not pointing it out to the fans. It kinda scares me that no one has done this before, but I digress. Of course Laurinaitis won’t be fair. He’ll end up spending an hour fixing a turnbuckle, or making sure everything was put safely under the ring, or readjusting his referee shirt over his suit because you can just tell he’d do that sort of thing, and will allow Ziggler to cheat for as long as possible, but at the end of the day, Punk will win. He’ll probably even knock out Laurinaitis (and probably Otunga as well) and use his hand to make the three count, but we’ll still get a great match out of it.

Score: 2 for 5

6. Zack Ryder’s association with John Cena is hurting his popularity.

David McGregor: FICTION. I don’t think Cena is hurting Ryder’s popularity, if anything it’s the fact that the WWE have kind of forgotten about him since the week after TLC that is affecting his popularity. I think it was obvious that Ryder and Cena were put together to make Cena a bit more smark friendly, which was a complete failure, but it was an obvious ploy by the WWE to have Ryder’s popularity rub off on Cena.

Dimitri Dorlis: FICTION. In all honesty, Ryder is in a good spot right now. He’s the United States Champion, is main eventing Raw, and is getting a positive reaction from the fans. Hanging out with John Cena isn’t going to negatively effect that, especially when you consider that, storyline-wise, John Cena is the biggest reason why Zack is US Champ right now. And it never hurts to be associated with the biggest name on the roster, especially when you’re both good guys. If anything, Ryder’s association with Cena is helping him a lot more than anyone in the IWC would care to admit.

Score: 3 for 6

7. Gail Kim vs. Mickie James proved that woman wrestlers should be allowed to main event wrestling shows more often.

David McGregor: FACT. Yes I think women should main event more shows, but I don’t think it can happen frequently. I like it when the WWE do something different like Trish and Lita main eventing Raw or Chavo and Rey Mysterio main eventing Smackdown, but if it happens all the time then it isn’t special anymore and right now especially in the WWE the women’s division just is not good enough to be compared to the men’s. I think it’s a shame that the Women’s division is just expected to suck, they need to get a hold of it and sort it out because right now women’s wrestling is in a seriously bad way.

Dimitri Dorlis: FICTION. Not to say it was a bad match, because it was very good, but women’s wrestling has its place on a card. It’s been stated over and over, but it’s a fact: women’s wrestling is a niche market. This is not to take anything away from women, because many of them are incredibly good at their craft, but they are not the main reason people tune in to watch a show. You can let the women’s division main event occasionally, as long as you don’t pull a Lockbox Challenge again, but it shouldn’t be more than once in a 3 month period.

Score: 3 for 7

8. You still pay attention to Matt Hardy and his videos.

David McGregor: FICTION. I think this guy is so sad and pathetic, he obviously needs more help and his endless self promotion just isn’t entertaining. I haven’t seen one of his videos since he debuted his new look, which was incredibly embarrassing, and I am really starting to genuinely dislike the actual man Matt Hardy. The stupid suicide thing and the idiotic grape eating is just stupid and makes him an attention seeking whore like Paris Hilton or some other skank that needs the attention of the media. It is really sad to think that Matt and Jeff Hardy were known as one of the greatest tag teams of all time and had millions of adoring fans. Nowadays one is known for being fat and having dreadlocks as well as a massive drug addiction and the other one has the same addiction yet has a reckless employer that lets him run about with zero consequences. What a difference a decade makes.

Dimitri Dorlis: FICTION. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh wait you were serious. Hold on a second.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

All joking aside, no. I gave up on Matt Hardy after DUI #682, so I have no interest in anything he has to say. The only people left following him are still rocking the multi-color armbands and their Hardy Boyz t-shirt that fit when they were 14 but don’t anymore. Matt has burned all his goodwill with me, and though I wish him the best and hope he pulls out of whatever issues he may be having, his videos do not interest me in the slightest.

Final Score: 4 for 8

Dimitri and David get off to a rough start, but end up right at .500 at the end just like the San Diego Chargers. One of them might get that reference. I’d like to thank them both for participating, and I invite you to chime in on the different topics in the comment section. Who did you agree with more? Let us know. See you next week with more Fact or Fiction!