Recently, Chris Jericho has come underneath a firestorm from the Internet in regards to his defense of the WWE Hall of Fame. At the beginning of his Podcast with Edge to review WrestleMania, Jericho took the time to unleash a barrage of bullets at the obnoxious fans that disrespected the Hall of Fame Ceremony. As everyone knows, Jericho is a staunch supporter of WWE and is accused of being a "Corporate Schill" by the Internet Wrestling Community (better known as the IWC). Jericho aimed his venom at the fans who say that they deserve to say whatever they want because they paid their money. These fans feel that they can boo anything including a ceremony because they paid tickets. However, Jericho went on to say that those fans are wrong because the Hall of Fame is a night to show a level of class and courtesy to people who have given their lives to the business. Chris talked about friends that he knew that gave everything for the sake of the sport that we call pro wrestling. Fans like that deserve to be kicked out of the ceremony because they are a disturbance to everyone else around them that just want to enjoy the show. Granted, I do not agree with names like Drew Carey, Pete Rose or William Perry going in before the likes of Randy Savage or Ultimate Warrior who finally made it in after years of politics. He talks about how Vince McMahon has his Court of people in his corner that help him make the final decisions in terms of who goes in and who does not. Politics is involved one way or another. However, I still hold a high level of esteem for the HOF in general because of stars like Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold or Edge to name a few. Those names are the standard bearers for their respective Induction Classes. Jericho defended names like the Bushwhackers, because of what they clearly have gone through for the sake of entertaining the fans. One of them even used walkers for their arms, which was sad to see. Y2J also defends the WWE for inducting Arnold Schwarzenegger into the Hall of Fame, because of his impact on Body Building. Jericho's case was very convincing, and I don't have much of a problem with Arnold going in to be honest. This is not the first time that Jericho has made enemies with the Internet fans. He caught a severe backlash for his defense of Bill Demott and later deleted his Tweet. Jericho stood by his convictions as to why he is a fan of Roman Reigns. Once fans in the IWC heard Jericho defend Reigns, they got their pitchforks out. Roman is public enemy #1 among the IWC vermin. A ring general such as Y2J understands what kind of potential that Roman has. Jericho sees in Roman Reigns what he saw in a guy like John Cena. He will go to bat for Cena in a heartbeat. I don't have a problem with Y2J being a fan of Roman. I like him too, but I also see where WWE can do better things with him. People need to realize that Chris Jericho is mainly speaking from the perspective of a professional wrestler and he is simply defending his fellow colleagues. Jericho is also highly appreciative of what WWE has done for his career and how Vince McMahon opened doors for him that Eric Bischoff and others never did. He is also a student of the tradition and holds the Hall of Fame honor in high regard. I and other respectful fans can understand his perspective. However, as fans we can still scratch our heads about the questionable choices like Drew Carey, Koko B. Ware, and others. When it comes to the guaranteed names like Ric Flair, Bret Hart, Hogan, etc, we have no problem. In an older episode of "Talk Is Jericho", Chris Jericho even stood against the idea of Chris Benoit being inducted into the Hall of Fame. WWE has enough negative publicity for the way their employees have been dropping dead and adding to the alarming statistic of deaths that wrestling is famous for. Benoit's induction would create the extra bad press that they do not need. Sadly, there are fans that do not see that picture. Instead, they have a problem separating the wrestler from the person. I laughed when Jericho said that he would personally slap the person that heckles him when he goes into the Hall of Fame. I hope he slaps them so hard, their head rolls off of their shoulders like they were in a Video Game. Fans like that have no place in that building to ruin a ceremonious night like the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame used to be a private ceremony that was exclusively for those that work within the company, along with different writers. With situations like this, it might be best for WWE to go back to that format. At the same time, WWE has put themselves in the corner by making these decisions. With that said, hopefully, they will take more consideration into some of their inductions. This reminds me of how Metallica came under fire from the heavy metal heads for standing up against Napster. From that point, they were seen as "sellouts" by their long time following. They became wiser businessmen, and took a stand against what they knew was wrong. Like Metallica, Jericho has been beloved by wrestling purists who crave smaller technical wrestlers. He was seen as a rebel in some ways. However, some of the same fans have turned on him by accusing him of being a "sellout" because he stands up for the Corporate Machine known as WWE. In Conclusion, the Hall of Fame still needs to be respected and celebrated regardless of its flaws. I respect it more than the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It has made improvements in certain ways and still has a way to go.
-Vaughn Resper, Jr.
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