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Jericho Incident and Its Repercussions
Just as the Road to WrestleMania is being paved, we enter into a dark period for wrestling fans. Many of us have spent years dealing with the ignorance of those who feel it is their place to cast derision on our love of action inside the squared circle; everything from “how can you watch that crap?” to “you know it’s fake, don’t you?” and beyond. Many of the fans I know (some of whom are wrestlers themselves) are articulate, intelligent people I enjoy discussing a variety of topics with. They make me proud to announce that I am a fan, and give me strong ammunition in my constant battle with the uninformed. Then something like this happens.
Of course the media jumps all over what happened in Victoria and portrays Chris Jericho as the devil incarnate, or vilifies all fans as knuckle-dragging cretins. This is not surprising since professional wrestling has long been a favourite scapegoat of news outlets of all repute. The coverage this is receiving is a no-win situation for wrestlers and fans alike –everyone comes off looking bad. Never has the phrase “a few bad apples spoil the whole bunch” been more apt.
Some are saying the fault lies with Jericho, as he should not have gotten out of his car. Really? They are honestly taking the stance that it would have been better for him to try driving off and risk hitting someone with his vehicle? Had that happened, no doubt he’d now be portrayed as a reckless coward who tried to mow down innocent fans after an event. All the while, nobody seems to be pointing the finger of blame where it deserves to be levelled: at the security guards on the scene. The moment Jericho’s car was swarmed by fans, security should have stepped in and cleared way for him to leave, thus avoiding the entire ugly mess.
If one watches the videos, Jericho can clearly be heard calmly and rationally telling security to get his attackers out of there. Security does not do so and the woman then shoves Jericho. He turns to get back in his vehicle, ignoring her, while security continues to do nothing more than stand around with their arms out. When his back was turned, she shoved him again and he hit his head on the roof of his car as a result. This is not conjecture; it is plain to see in the video. That was when Jericho turned around, swinging, and knocked her on her dumb ass. Then the co-instigator lunges right past security, and gets shoved down by Jericho, who at this point, clearly just wanted to get in his car and get the hell out of there. Did Jericho lose his cool? You bet. I challenge you, however, to find me anyone who wouldn’t have. Even the Dalai Lama advocates self-defence when attacked.
Any sporting event is a place for fans to blow off steam by cheering for their heroes, and booing the opponents. Security should have been aware of this and been on high alert when people began heckling Jericho as he left. He is a professional and took the verbal assaults in stride, but as soon as his vehicle was mobbed, the security guards should also have been professional enough to intervene. Throughout the footage Jericho can be heard telling security to DO THEIR JOBS! He asked twice that they call police, and at least once prior to the situation becoming violent (and again after) demanded that these people be removed. Had security acted quickly and efficiently this entire incident could have been circumvented. Let’s see how many news reports blame them.
There is talk about whether or not Chris Jericho should be fired, or at least disciplined, for his actions in Victoria. I’ve read in a few places people wondering if it would be written into storylines on Raw, or at least acknowledged on television. Thus far WWE has done exactly what they should do: NOTHING. Jericho has not been charged by local police for his actions this past weekend, let alone found guilty of anything. Until those unlikely events occur there should be no public disciplinary actions taken against him. Perhaps he will be sat down in private and spoken to, that’s Vince’s decision. I neither know nor care how it will be handled in the office, as long as it all stays behind closed doors.
To publicly punish Jericho now, or even appear to, would be to say that they feel he was wrong to defend himself. There would be a perception that the actions of those deranged fans will be tolerated. Lunatics and tough-guy-wanna-be’s alike would think it is okay to seek out WWE superstars and pick fights. Go ahead and take a swing at Matt Hardy for what he “did to Jeff” he can’t fight back or he’ll get fired, right? Not to mention all the money you could make by going on talk shows and selling your story to TMZ. Speaking of money, whether you like his creative decisions or not, one thing everyone can agree on, is that Vince McMahon knows money. To censure Jericho now, and give the perception of acknowledging his guilt, opens the door to this couple to sue WWE for damages. No. Jericho will not be publicly punished for this incident.
As for making a storyline of it, and/or acknowledging what happened in a promo on Raw, that makes even less sense than punishing Jericho. All that would do is draw attention to a situation that, as mentioned, can only cast an ill light upon fans and talent alike. Furthermore, it would give the incident the feel of being “worked” even though it clearly was not. That would really muddy the waters between fantasy and reality for some people, which would only create more of this same problem, since that seems to be what spurred the whole situation in the first place.
