Where Will Jericho's Act Go?

With the Royal Rumble coming up and people speculating on what might be going on with Chris Jericho's mysterious actions since his return, I thought I might as well think about it too. Before Jericho returned, I would have said Wade Barrett was the best choice for who would be winning the Rumble match. Since then, Jericho and Randy Orton also seem likely. But how does Jericho's act actually play into everything?

Everyone seems to have one popular idea. Have Jericho be the last guy to come out, while there are only 2 guys left in the ring. Those two guys then eliminate each other. Jericho wins the Royal Rumble without lifting a finger to do anything. He can then go back to doing his gimmick of acting all excited and celebrating, then leaving. No offense, but I think that idea absolutely sucks. I'm not even saying that because it would be a lame finish and mean that there would have had to have been fast eliminations throughout the match for there to be only two left by the time the final entrant is coming out. My problem is, what does that actually have to do with his gimmick? How does that actually progress the storyline? Winning like that would be just pure luck. Are they going to sell the idea that Jericho lighting up his jacket brings in divine intervention to help him? Is he Tebowing? First, it just sounds so stupid. It's a stretch when a guy like The Undertaker does supernatural stuff, but that at least matches his gimmick. And that is the second thing, the WWE has not been selling the idea that Jericho doing this act leads to him miraculously getting what he wants. It is not a part of his current gimmick. If it were, it would still be hard to swallow, but him winning the Royal Rumble match like that would actually match his gimmick. As it stands now, if he wins like some fans want him to, all you will see is a funny situation for his new character to shine. The character would not actually be getting developed or doing anything to bring about the win.

I am not against Jericho winning the Royal Rumble. I just want it to be done in a better way than that, if it will be him. It seems simple to me. Jericho does not even have to be the last entrant. No matter what number he gets, just have him continue his gimmick of playing with the fans and acting like he does not care about anything in particular. The other wrestlers will ignore him, since he does not seem as a threat. When the moment is right, like there is one guy left in the ring or the final two are trying to eliminate each other near the ropes, Jericho strikes and eliminates whoever is left himself, winning the Rumble. He then drops the act. Next night on Raw, he reveals it was all a plan to get a shot at the title at Wrestlemania. That is storyline development. That is his character going somewhere. Jericho is not acting this way just so people can be entertained. It has to go somewhere in the storyline sooner or later. I think this is a good way to do it.

After the gimmick ends like that, some people can say that all the hype and fun will go away from Jericho's return. Not necessarily. Remember those return promos he had? Who was the girl in them? The WWE could always go somewhere with that. I have seen other people around the Internet give their takes on who "She" is. One person said it was Jericho's fancy jacket. Yes, it is a match made in heaven, isn't it? Another person said that the girl could represent the WWE title. I didn't think of that one before, but I wouldn't be too surprised. It would be sad if this was the case. This whole thing would boil down to a basic title feud. The WWE Championship beckoned Jericho back to the WWE. I really can picture it going down like that. I am still hoping "She" is an actual person. I am still hoping for Stephanie McMahon. CM Punk was rude to her a few months ago during his whole angle with being anti-establishment. The WWE can treat it as Stephanie getting tired of seeing Punk with the title and deciding to bring in Jericho to get it off him. If Punk can knock of Laurinaitis at the Royal Rumble, it would be even better for this feud. CM Punk would have a new authority figure to feud with heading into Wrestlemania. Sounds good to me.