Over the past few weeks we’ve seen the fall of Steve Austin, the return of Vince Russo, and now what appears to be the biggest shoot by a wrestler against the internet ever. In case you live in a cave and haven’t visited any news sites or our Fist Farking section, Chris Jericho updated his commentary yesterday with some harsh comments against the internet and, in particular, readers of PWTorch.com.

The last time something like this happened it involved Vince McMahon on Byte This. As soon as the show ended readers of PWTorch wrote in to say how evil Vince was and how they’d never give another penny to him. This was just before Wrestlemania and, supposedly, Vince was making fun of Canadians and blaming the sagging ratings the bad stories on the internet. I waited for a transcript of exactly what Vince said and, well, to say that the ‘net was over exaggerating would be an understatement.

Time to burst some bubbles again.

Folks, the Chris Jericho commentary was a work, and a weak one at that. One could argue he was doing it because he’s a heel and the internet gives him nothing but love, so to keep true to his character he’s trying to turn the ‘net against him as well. Of course, this would be idiotic since Jericho has played the babyface on the ‘net since well after his heel turn nearly a year ago.

But let’s go through his little commentary and let’s see if there’s anything there worth getting upset over.

Hello Jackoffs...

- Well, he’s obviously talking to Scott Keith here.

All right, I've had it. You want a war? Now you've got one. I'm suffering from a bout of Insomnia, so I decided to go on the web and check out the reviews of the King Of The Ring from tonight, more specifically on the PW Torch website. After reading what all of you "Smarks" (and believe me, you are all still marks) had to say about my match and the show, I am furious.

- Here, let’s reprint some comments from the PWTorch website to see if one Chris Jericho is, in fact, as furious as he claims….

Comments from the TORCH :
Brian Tilley of Ames, Iowa – “RVD and Y2J looked like they were wrestling in slow motion”……..
Scott Batura of Redmond, Wash.- “First of all, RVD and Jericho had the worst matches of either of their careers”………
S. Darnell of Greeneville, Tenn – “Best match: Rob Van Dam vs. Chris Jericho. And I am so sick of seeing Chris Jericho buried that I could puke!”……..
Eric Adrian of Long Beach, CA. – “Best Match: Jericho vs. RVD”…..
Doug Creamer of Cincinnati, Ohio – “A King Of The Ring win was MUCH more deserved by the likes of Jericho”……
Chris Hughes of Utica, NY - Best Match: RVD vs. Chris Jericho. The opening contest gave me good hopes for the rest of the show.”…….
Jeff Mcfall of Dublin, Va – “Best match: RVD vs. Y2J.”……
Dan Castro of Berlin, Conn – “Best match: Jericho vs. RVD”……

- Yeah, I can see how 2 negative comments out of 4 PAGES of reader feedback would really chap his ass! The comments above are only 2 pages worth of praise for Jericho, because after looking through it all I was tired of trying to find something NEGATIVE against him.

- So we’re to assume Chris Jericho read TWO negative things about his match and started to write this anti-internet column. Phft. Let’s see what else Jericho says…

Everybody has the right to an opinion and here's mine. I am sick of all you holier than thou, pompous jackasses. That's it. That's all. Baby goes to sleep now. I had one of my best matches of the year tonight with RVD, that featured 20 minutes of tremendous action, innovative false finishes and an absolutely tremendous crowd. It was everything I could've asked for in a match and it was in my opinion, an off the charts performance from RVD and myself, match of the year calibre .

- Does anyone, ANYONE, honestly think Jericho believes his match with RVD was a match of the YEAR candidate? COME ON people. Nobody but NOBODY would believe that, especially the man who was in the match. Good performance? It wasn’t bad. MOTY? No. I’d nominate Edge/Angle, Hogan/Rock, Undertaker/Flair, and RVD/Guerrero Ladder as better matches so far, and that’s just off the top of my head. Please, this screams fake more than Kurt Angle’s wig.

I was so excited about the contest and I can humbly state that we stole the show. The crowd was so into it that they were burned out after we went on, quiet for the next 3-4 matches. They ate up every move from start to finish, they enjoyed the hell out of it.

- Well, to be fair Chris, the crowd DID have to sit through a TEST match after you and RVD left. I wouldn’t exactly say your breathtaking match left them speechless or anything. When the black hole of charisma enters the ring, things tend to quiet down a bit…

But now I read the opinions of some of you. Many of you state that the match was very good or excellent. I agree. But many others are saying that the match was slow and predictable with one jackass even saying that it was one of the worst matches of my career!!! How can you honestly say that? What the hell do you people want? What is it that you are looking for? We go out there and bust our asses to entertain you (and if the Columbus fans were quiet, they sure as hell weren't during my match, they were entertained) and your thoughts were that bad?

- Many others? TWO? TWO IS MANY OTHERS? Nah, if you wanna be honest, that match you had with Rhyno where you botched nearly every spot IMAGINABLE and blamed it on “loose ropes” ranks right up there as one of the worst of your career. Let’s say Chris is shooting here, let’s say he really feels this way. Is this the FIRST time he’s ever had someone criticize his match? You don’t think he hears worse than this from Vince? Ridiculous…

Well if you didn't like my match tonight, then you are out of luck if you're a Jericho fan, cause it was the best you're gonna get, jerky. That was CJ at his finest. Wrestling at it's finest. A great 4 1/2 star performance with an tremendous build, a great crowd and an awesome match.

- If that’s Jericho at his finest, I’m scared for his future in the business. This is so obviously a work it boggles my mind how ANYONE could think it’s a shoot. “Wrestling at it’s finest”. For the love of God, what does he need to do to prove it’s a work? Type “AND MY BAND IS THE BEST BAND ON EARTH!”? Read between the lines, they’re not that blurry.

If you didn't like it, then stop watching me and stop watching the WWE and take up bowling, cause you will never like anything we give you.

- Well, Pete Webber does have a better workrate than half the WWE roster. And he’s already got the RVD thumbs down to boot.

I'm the first one to admit when my performance is not up to snuff, or when something was bad and I'm the most self critical person on the WWE roster, but tonight's performance was me at my finest. Didn't like it? Get the F out then and good riddance to you.

- Just what they need, more people “getting the F out”. Seems a few folks on your roster and half your fanbase has taken that slogan to heart.

For all of you that enjoyed my match I say thanks. For those that didn't like it, I don't care cause I'm through with you.

I am now finished with the internet and I'm finished with this sight because I hate what you marks are doing. You've spoiled it for me. You're negativity is ridiculous. You all come off like a bunch of bitter know-it alls, who won't be happy with anything we give you. Nothing is ever good enough and quite frankly I'm over it. You are the same people that are saying that Attack of the Clones is boring, analyzing every little detail, instead of allowing yourselves to be entertained.

- Whoa, whoa, WHOA. Calling me stupid I can take. Calling me a bitter cynical fuck I can stand. But you do not, and I repeat you do FUCKING NOT lump Attack of the Clones and the word boring in the same sentence.

t seems that all of you wish the wrestling business would dry up and die, because some of you dislike EVERYTHING we do. Is it always good? No, but we are killing ourselves to try and entertain you and if you don't respect that then kiss my ass. I want the business to be around forever and I am doing my part to keep it great and I did that tonight, no matter what any of you think.

- WORK WORK WORK WORK, WORKITY WORK. I’ll explain exactly why after the next paragraph.

Alot of the boys pander to you on their websites, asking for your input and your thoughts and I used to be one of them. Guess what? I'm not anymore. Think what you want. I don't care. Do what you want. I don't care. Respond how you want too as well, because I won't be reading. I don't give a damn about what you think anymore...

One of the best wrestlers in the world and one of the performers in the best match of the night and match of year candidate from the KOR,

Chris Jericho

- Ok let’s review the facts. Chris Jericho has the best match on the card with Rob Van Dam. Jericho, suffering from a bout of insomnia, logs onto PWTorch.com to see what people are saying about his match. TWO people say they didn’t like Jericho’s match. This, in turn, causes Jericho to flip out, post how much he suddenly hates the internet and how he’s done with his website.

Let’s also review facts for a different story. Vince Russo is rehired by the WWE. It’s no secret Vince Russo has an unhealthy obsession with the internet, going as far as to book EXCLUSIVELY for the internet at times. Suddenly Russo isn’t the HEAD writer at WWE, he’s a “stay at home consultant”.

Meanwhile, across the net, upon reading Jericho’s column, smarks decide that “maybe we’re being too harsh on the WWE product. Maybe we should give them a chance.” Everyone starts to agree that they’re being way too critical and will definitely tone it down a bit so they don’t piss off any more wrestlers.

And factoring into this story is Jim Ross, who has a personal vendetta against the internet because they constantly remind him what a shit job he’s doing. JR reads most of the websites in the Internet Wrestling Community and responds to most of the criticism we give him. Yet the WWE knows the internet contains their most loyal fans. Fans who, no matter how bad the product gets, will still watch in hopes of it getting better. In fact, I’d say internet fans take up a good chunk of the 3.1 ratings they’ve been getting lately.

Did it ever occur to anyone that Russo is trying to work the net through Jericho (and maybe others) in an attempt to “win them back”? Let’s be realistic here. Jericho and Lance Storm are the “darlings of the internet” because they have such a strong presence here. What better way to indirectly communicate with the smarks on the ‘net than through Jericho and Storm? You can bet your fucking bippy we’ll see something from Storm soon. Considering Lance takes more criticism than ANYONE on his message board (and he personally replies to EACH one), it would be quite a change of character for him to suddenly hate the ‘net too. We’ll see what happens in the coming weeks from him.

And for all of you who say “WWE doesn’t care about the internet you dumbass!”, think about this. Byte This is an internet exclusive radio show. WWE.com has exclusive interviews with their top wrestlers. WWE sells a nice chunk of it’s merchandise through their little Shopzone website. They don’t care about the internet? You bet your ass they do. They care about the internet a great deal. They care about the internet enough for the number TWO man in the entire company to write a column each week PERSONALLY responding to feedback coming FROM the internet.

So let’s just take a step back, remind ourselves who it is we’re dealing with here, and re-read Jericho’s column with our “big boy” glasses on. I’m sure you’ll see the humor in it much the same way I did.

Now if we could only get Jericho to be pissed at Lethal somehow…