As Mark Madden rightly puts it, Wrestling has always been and will always be an island of misfits(or misfit toys or whatever). Consider two immensely talented wrestlers from two entirely different generations.
On one hand, you have Chris Jericho, who inspires nothing but trust, wisdom, knowledge, passion, and enthusiasm in everything he does. He is not just a talented wrestler, but a decent rock singer(yes, decent here is a euphemism for mediocre), author, and more. He has lived, breathed, and consumed pro wrestling for two decades. Some will say he's amusing, funny, entertaining, and possesses a refinement in his overall bearing outside the ring., despite all his accomplishments. He's a likeable guy.
On the other hand, there's Daniel Bryan, with the same amount of exemplary passion and knowledge in pro wrestling, has quite a diverse independent scene and ROH experience (though it cannot be compared to the one Jericho had, travelling to Japan, Mexico , ECW, WCW, that cannot be duplicated or attained today, for no amount of money). One could say he's a good wrestler. He may or may not be as multi-talented and possessing refinement and finesse as characteristic of an extremely charismatic, talented and intelligent person ouside the ring as Chris Jericho. But they're both great wrestlers with a largely similar size.
Consider Bryan as an extension of Chris Jericho, or the 2010s version of Chris Jericho with a different gimmick.
Some speculate that in 2002, Chris Jericho was slowly buried into the obscurity of mid-card and tag-teaming with Christian because of one HHH. It is pretty obvious that for "paying his dues" and "mastering his craft" and being the best over-all wrestler/performer on Raw in 2002, next only to Shawn Michaels, Jericho's career was a downward trajectory. It is not great success to spend 8 months on Raw tag-teaming with Christian and facing the likes of Goldust and Booker T on a weekly basis. That's Dudley Bums' or Hardy Bums' forte. And then elevated to feud with Shawn Michaels. Once again dropped to the mid-card, fighting for the IC title and feuding with Christian the remainder of 2003 and all of 2004. Before getting his only one-on-one championship match against John Cena at Summerslam 2005, Chris Jericho was used largely to feud for the IC title, money in the bank, etc. elevating others such as Shelton Benjamin(lost to him cleanly on two pay-per-views, Taboo Tuesday '04, Backlash '05). It is no wonder Chris Jericho decided to focus much more on Fozzy and quit the company in the Summer of 2005.
Consider Sheamus as the modern-day HHH. (at least in HHH's eyes). Consider Sheamus(but it's HHH all along) scoffing and thinking someone like Daniel Bryan being the WHC(it is Chris Jericho really), and then burying him at WM (just how the management/HHH bid it to be). In Chris Jericho's case, there certainly weren't any arenawide YES chants to redeem him. He had to simply accept his fate and role as a supporting talent at best and he played that role as well he could from 2002-2005 and as JR would say "By God" he played that role to perfection. But Bryan had and still has the support of the WWE Universe. However, despite his few classic matches with C M Punk in 2012(on Raw and on pay-per-view), Daniel Bryan's career was no different than Jericho's as he spent almost a year tag-teaming with Kane , again, a very small supporting role.
Fast forward to 2013, Daniel Bryan beats John Cena, but once again HHH decides to suppress him(in storyline, it was overt , but how much of HHH scoffs and mocks Daniel Bryan, like he would, if the WWE universe had wanted Jericho as champion back from 2002-2005?) Once again, Randy Orton is the new HHH, Daniel Bryan is the new Chris Jericho, only much more popular despite not being as good as Jericho in terms of charisma or mic work(but then, the chant).
Other smaller but technically flawless and impressive wrestlers chose other means for a sense of satisfaction. Drugs, Painkillers, Alcohol Abuse are like the three mistresses of pro wrestlers and pro wrestling. Those three also have their three equivalents in three of the most awesome in-ring competitors to ever wrestle in Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and Kurt Angle. The former two lost their lives, tragically too. The latter has been a physical and neurochemical fuck-up for quite some time now, but God Forbid danger should overlap him anytime soon because Kurt Angle is simply the greatest technical and over-all wrestler of all time, nothing more, nothing less.
When far more talented wrestlers have to make a name for themselves, they wrestle tremendous and demanding matches on a nightly basis- house shows, television, pay-per-views. That is surely eventually going to take a toll on the fragile structure of flesh and bone that is the human body. Ask Kurt Angle. That leads to creative and personal frustration. It is hard to imagine for a non-wrestler, leave aside a non-great wrestler to imagine playing a subservient role to John Cena. Ask C.M. Punk.
Is it much wonder that Pro Wrestling truly looks like an island of egos and misfits. Chris Jericho has had an immense career. He is the one exception to what has been a Wrestling Rule of becoming another mental, physical and neurochemical fuck-up. Maybe that's because he's a man of multitudinous passions and hobbies. His rock and roll stints with Fozzy might provide a vent to an otherwise repetitive and creatively frustrating working environment that is Pro wrestling. C.M. Punk doesn't have that. Nor did Kurt Angle. Chris Jericho is a genius , and a star. He has managed to remain healthy, focused, stable, creative, contented, and most importantly "sane" after having wrestled all around the world for two decades. What will Daniel Bryan's fate be?
On one hand, you have Chris Jericho, who inspires nothing but trust, wisdom, knowledge, passion, and enthusiasm in everything he does. He is not just a talented wrestler, but a decent rock singer(yes, decent here is a euphemism for mediocre), author, and more. He has lived, breathed, and consumed pro wrestling for two decades. Some will say he's amusing, funny, entertaining, and possesses a refinement in his overall bearing outside the ring., despite all his accomplishments. He's a likeable guy.
On the other hand, there's Daniel Bryan, with the same amount of exemplary passion and knowledge in pro wrestling, has quite a diverse independent scene and ROH experience (though it cannot be compared to the one Jericho had, travelling to Japan, Mexico , ECW, WCW, that cannot be duplicated or attained today, for no amount of money). One could say he's a good wrestler. He may or may not be as multi-talented and possessing refinement and finesse as characteristic of an extremely charismatic, talented and intelligent person ouside the ring as Chris Jericho. But they're both great wrestlers with a largely similar size.
Consider Bryan as an extension of Chris Jericho, or the 2010s version of Chris Jericho with a different gimmick.
Some speculate that in 2002, Chris Jericho was slowly buried into the obscurity of mid-card and tag-teaming with Christian because of one HHH. It is pretty obvious that for "paying his dues" and "mastering his craft" and being the best over-all wrestler/performer on Raw in 2002, next only to Shawn Michaels, Jericho's career was a downward trajectory. It is not great success to spend 8 months on Raw tag-teaming with Christian and facing the likes of Goldust and Booker T on a weekly basis. That's Dudley Bums' or Hardy Bums' forte. And then elevated to feud with Shawn Michaels. Once again dropped to the mid-card, fighting for the IC title and feuding with Christian the remainder of 2003 and all of 2004. Before getting his only one-on-one championship match against John Cena at Summerslam 2005, Chris Jericho was used largely to feud for the IC title, money in the bank, etc. elevating others such as Shelton Benjamin(lost to him cleanly on two pay-per-views, Taboo Tuesday '04, Backlash '05). It is no wonder Chris Jericho decided to focus much more on Fozzy and quit the company in the Summer of 2005.
Consider Sheamus as the modern-day HHH. (at least in HHH's eyes). Consider Sheamus(but it's HHH all along) scoffing and thinking someone like Daniel Bryan being the WHC(it is Chris Jericho really), and then burying him at WM (just how the management/HHH bid it to be). In Chris Jericho's case, there certainly weren't any arenawide YES chants to redeem him. He had to simply accept his fate and role as a supporting talent at best and he played that role as well he could from 2002-2005 and as JR would say "By God" he played that role to perfection. But Bryan had and still has the support of the WWE Universe. However, despite his few classic matches with C M Punk in 2012(on Raw and on pay-per-view), Daniel Bryan's career was no different than Jericho's as he spent almost a year tag-teaming with Kane , again, a very small supporting role.
Fast forward to 2013, Daniel Bryan beats John Cena, but once again HHH decides to suppress him(in storyline, it was overt , but how much of HHH scoffs and mocks Daniel Bryan, like he would, if the WWE universe had wanted Jericho as champion back from 2002-2005?) Once again, Randy Orton is the new HHH, Daniel Bryan is the new Chris Jericho, only much more popular despite not being as good as Jericho in terms of charisma or mic work(but then, the chant).
Other smaller but technically flawless and impressive wrestlers chose other means for a sense of satisfaction. Drugs, Painkillers, Alcohol Abuse are like the three mistresses of pro wrestlers and pro wrestling. Those three also have their three equivalents in three of the most awesome in-ring competitors to ever wrestle in Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and Kurt Angle. The former two lost their lives, tragically too. The latter has been a physical and neurochemical fuck-up for quite some time now, but God Forbid danger should overlap him anytime soon because Kurt Angle is simply the greatest technical and over-all wrestler of all time, nothing more, nothing less.
When far more talented wrestlers have to make a name for themselves, they wrestle tremendous and demanding matches on a nightly basis- house shows, television, pay-per-views. That is surely eventually going to take a toll on the fragile structure of flesh and bone that is the human body. Ask Kurt Angle. That leads to creative and personal frustration. It is hard to imagine for a non-wrestler, leave aside a non-great wrestler to imagine playing a subservient role to John Cena. Ask C.M. Punk.
Is it much wonder that Pro Wrestling truly looks like an island of egos and misfits. Chris Jericho has had an immense career. He is the one exception to what has been a Wrestling Rule of becoming another mental, physical and neurochemical fuck-up. Maybe that's because he's a man of multitudinous passions and hobbies. His rock and roll stints with Fozzy might provide a vent to an otherwise repetitive and creatively frustrating working environment that is Pro wrestling. C.M. Punk doesn't have that. Nor did Kurt Angle. Chris Jericho is a genius , and a star. He has managed to remain healthy, focused, stable, creative, contented, and most importantly "sane" after having wrestled all around the world for two decades. What will Daniel Bryan's fate be?
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