Raw Is Once Again Jericho

The waiting is indeed over, Chris Jericho has come home! The man who has been away from the ring for two years made his return to the W.W.E. and Monday Night Raw last night. He did so by interrupting W.W.E. Champ Randy Orton, who was in the middle of a "passing of the torch" ceremony.

Essentially, Orton had some local guy - apparently an aspiring wrestler - carry an Olympic-style torch from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale and into the arena. This, according to Orton, was meant to be symbolic because he should now be mentioned with the greats since he has beaten everyone and is left with no competition.

When the torch runner entered the arena and appeared headed for the ring; from behind the curtain jumped a "mystery man" to clothesline the runner. Moments later it would become fully apparent that it was Chris Jericho. Y2J entered the arena after a video played on the Titantron, which featured a countdown. Basically, Jericho came out, thanked the fans for their standing ovation and challenged a stunned Randy Orton. Incidentally, the above shot is of Chris Jericho playing in the NHL All-Star Celebrity Challenge in January 2002 for a good cause. Y2J and teammate Glenn Anderson look to score on Pete Peeters.

The return of Jericho closed a pretty good Monday Night Raw. Yes, the websites I consulted were flat out wrong in their prediction for the precise time of Jericho's arrival. Yet, overall the show was very good and I am anxious to see what the rating was.

Next week on Raw will feature the return of "Nature Boy" Ric Flair and a tag team match when Triple H and Jeff Hardy go up against Umaga and Snitsky. Plus, I am sure more from Chris Jericho. In addition, a pretty good feud was born last night when Shawn Michaels and Mr. Kennedy got into a tussle to open the show. Michaels is working a reduced schedule - which means only Monday nights and pay-per-views - otherwise he would be the W.W.E. Champ. Every time I see Michaels in the ring, it confirms my thinking that he is among the five greatest ever.

THREE COUNTS

- Just a matter of time before Triple H turns on Jeff Hardy.

- Raw is in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Monday which is Flair's hometown. But he was a member of Smackdown for the last few months. I'm not sure if the move is permanent or not. Let's hope so.

- I read recently that Vince McMahon wants to play down the sexuality of the ladies of the W.W.E. - I can't call 'em divas - yet, if that's the case, then why is Mickey James kissing her opponents on the lips before flattening them for the pinfall?

- The W.W.E. spends way too much time on Hornswoggle and the women. Both storylines have their perks, I suppose, but I want to see more matches like the impromptu Michaels-Kennedy bout or the Jeff Hardy-Umaga contest. This may be a bit repetitive: I get the entertainment side of wrestling, but gimme Steamboat-Savage, Rhodes-Flair, Owen-Bret, Terry Funk-Sabu...that was entertaining!

Keep it in the Ring!