The reason why Chris Jericho and Bray Wyatts present WWE feud can be considered a failure can, intriguingly enough, be traced back to something very familiar to Jericho, rock music. In September 1990, the Billboard pop charts were ruled by Cherry Pie, Warrants overtly sexual, loud and wild arena rock anthem. By September 1991, the decidedly not-so-sexual and much more morose grunge hit Smells Like Teen Spirit. With one song, the mood atop the music industry changed, rendering most hair metal acts as also-rans almost immediately. The same can be said for why Chris Jericho and Bray Wyatts feud is likely to be a failure. On July 19, 2013, Chris Jericho made his last appearance for almost a full calendar year in WWE. At that point, Jerichos wild persona and hair metal rock star-style charisma worked. He was cool, and did a more-than-admirable job of getting Fandango over at Wrestlemania 29. As well, he had terrific matches with the likes of Dolph Ziggler and CM Punk, his leaving the company on a high note actually proving to be somewhat of a sadness inducing issue for the WWE Universe. However, in the past year since Jerichos departure, Bray Wyatt and his family have emerged as one of the companys most compelling acts in a generation. Driven by an unflinchingly honest moral code that is largely based upon proclaiming the world a den of iniquity and all the worlds citizens as likely to be affected by the worlds decay and moral decline, hes proven to be a difficult opponent for traditional WWE babyfaces like Daniel Bryan and John Cena to gain traction against. Much like the pop music world in 1991, the incredible honesty in Wyatts presentation is so compelling that it makes him not a bad guy, and not a good guy, either. Rather hes an appreciated guy, someone who has gained the crowds respect a notion that cant adequately be measured by cheers or boos. Chris Jericho may be the most antiquated of babyfaces to wrestle Wyatt, and thus his pumped up persona appears childish and insignificant versus Wyatt, creating a presentation that is disjointed and ultimately not very entertaining. Here are five surefire measures to solve this issue.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
