Originally, I started writing this column prior to Unforgiven. The piece was going to be called “The Real Talking Point of Unforgiven”. I was going to go into a little depth about the Jericho/Michaels feud and how in the light of three Scramble matches for the World titles, the big Unsanctioned Match between these two was the bout that your average person was most interested in at the PPV.

Then of course my Laptop exploded in a furious wave of rebellion, attempting to condemn me to a life within the retail industry and throw me out of the wrestling loop for oh, like weeks. But it’s still relevant.

Time has moved on. Unforgiven already exploded like a limp sausage all over the floor and delivered us the big HBK/Jericho bloodbath. Except it wasn’t a blood-fest at all, because in the current era of the WWE, slicing face is not okay. That wouldn’t be so bad – except this feud really did warrant that little colourful extra at this stage. But at least it was a huge battle. Well, not really either – because basically Shawn Michaels kicked Mongoose McQueen’s arse for twenty minutes essentially.

But initially, I was harsh. Going back, it is a great match, and IF, this Sunday’s No Mercy Ladder match ends up with a Y2-win, then it somewhat validates the lopsidedness of their last tussle. So it will be all groovy. And regardless of how “right” the decision to put HBK over Jericho in such a decisive fashion was, the storyline had been so incredible that there was still many avenues to explore.

Lately it’s looked like they’ve exhausted all those little nooks and crannys. A funny thing happened to me a month or so ago. I was about to get in an elevator and someone passing asked me about The Undertaker. Once in the lift, having overheard the previous, an Avril-Lavigne look-a-like excitably got to asking me about wrestling, which was cool. But what stood out, was what she said about Jericho: “I can’t believe he hit Shawn’s wife…what’s going to happen now?”

So then, I was in Zaavi not long afterwards and I was looking at the Shawn Michaels DVD (which I didn’t have at this point, so I was maybe drooling like an ROH fan in a girl’s locker room), when a dude (best way to describe him – he looked scarily like me), who worked there started up some conversation. And what did he ask me about? Yep, Jericho’s feud with Shawn Michaels. In the time since I can’t remember what the hell he said exactly (I was pretty rude…sorry pal), but the fact that it was about two wrestlers other than Stone Cold, The Rock, or Mankind, was refreshing.

Then randomly, more recently, I saw some kids mucking about and playing in the street and I could have swore one of them shouted/wailed/yelled “no, you be Jericho…”

It seems to me, that Jericho/Michaels has captured the imagination of your average fan. This is probably the first time that I’ve been able to engage in conversation about Pro-wrestlers, with random strangers, without them either (a) running away, (b) f***ing shouting “If you Smeeelll-la-la-laaa….”, or (c) asking me if I know wrestling is fake, in some time. See, my talks with random, self-respecting, real-life adults, usually teaches me that they either hate wrestling because it’s “fake” and think I’m retarded for watching it (never mind writing about it…), or that average folk couldn’t get a stuff about any of the personalities on WWE television since the Attitude era dissolved.

My last experience of what Jim Ross would label “water cooler talk” in relation to wrestling, was when Big Show clashed with Floyd Mayweather. EVERYONE was on about it (mind you, in a manner that was really patronising towards grappling). After watching WrestleMania 24 in my friend’s house (on a Giant Projector – awesome. In the freezing cold outside – not so spank-tastic), we even ended up talking about the whole world of wrestling, with our taxi driver. A guy who wasn’t actually sure if it was real or not.

This theme picked up a week later, when someone who doesn’t usually speak to me, approached me and nervously asked if the aforementioned bout was real, in light of the fact that they thought all the other ones weren’t. I’d say that feud captured a hell of a lot of interest, and invigorated the chit-chat in offices at tea-time, right across the land. And I think Jericho’s rivalry with HBK has done the same.

Or it least it had, before it started to fumble and hobble along. At the moment, no-one is asking me any questions about the HBK/Jericho story.

It’s become conventional, and we’ve finally begun to play the waiting game. Rather than enjoying each step, I find that now, I’m just waiting for the ladder match. That’s not a good thing, even if an abundance of fans tune in for the outcome. TV ratings are ridiculously important and fans need to be watching every week in order to see each twist and turn.

Where’s the pay-off at the PPV anyways? What incentive, beyond the fact that it might be a good match, is there to tune in?

The struggle between these guys was logical and based on hatred, and now it’s in an environment where it can be taken as either featuring a prop that allows for some crazy stunts, or for a prize that renders the personal grudge secondary. It’s convoluted, and that’s never a good thing.

This was the feud that represented a basic, gradually disintegration of a working relationship. Okay, that sounds completely pretentious. But still, at the risk of sounding like a creepy sort with lofty notions, it was a story that transcended your average wrestling depth, and became something quite relevant. Whether or not it still feels like that, is highly debatable.

Everyone’s excited about the actual ladder match though, and they should be – it has the potential to be fantastic. Shawn Michaels is known as the innovator of Ladder matches – a really inaccurate title when you think of it. Hhow many ladder matches has he been in? Three? But at the same time, it’s justified.

Equally though, Jericho can make a case for deserving the same tag as he’s been in at least four and was part of them in a different era, when they needed further “advancement” in order to still be considered innovative and exciting by contemporary fans who had seen it all.

Together though, they’re almost perfect opponents and their knowledge of each other – and understanding of their rivalry – should lead to a great finale. However, the whole point of what I’m saying – the whole reason I’m uncomfortable about this whole match – isn’t that no-one cares anymore; it’s why they care. Fans watching, week in and week out, now only care about this feud in a secondary sense when compared to the damn ladder.

They can’t wait to see the match, but the whole grudge behind it is getting lost.

But at the end of the day, it should still be fun. It could be a classic. But, when that ladder match ends, it’s really important that people are talking about Chris Jericho and not the ladder.

I hope it’s worth the wait.

Thanks for taking the time to check this out. I welcome any and all feedback and I can be contacted at www.myspace.com/michaelwrestlingetc or simply by emailing me at Michael@ifight365.com. I look forward to hearing from you, and will be back soon!