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Break the walls down … and blow out the Logitech speakers … but in his second appearance back in a WWE ring, Jericho still hasn’t uttered a word.

And I suspect this is going to be brilliant on his part.

Last week, Jericho seemed to channel the over-jubilant superstar. His “lean back into a group of fans” shot in week one was an almost perfect re-framing of C.M. Punk’s first title win, where he literally walked out of the PPV with the WWE title, despite not being under contract (in storyline).

This week, Jericho targeted the “emotional return” take that happens when folks long thought retired – folks like Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and more – usually channel when they come back. He became weepy and too overcome to utter a single word.

On the surface, the segment might appear identical to most folks; but the subtle differences are what made the segment sweet.

Going into last night, I figured Jericho would make last week’s gimmick a one-week aberration and finally get down to business, or I figured he’d go the other way… extend it and turn it into a multi-week gig that will pay off when someone in back, the person he’ll probably feud with at WrestleMania, perhaps, like CM Punk, finally gets fed up and comes out to get him to stop.

Jericho’s return is almost a send-up of his own original WWE debut, when he made the words, “Would you please shut the hell up?” WWE gold. This time around, he’s shut himself up, and I hope it goes on a few more weeks before the payoff.

In fact, a way to make this gimmick legendary would be to have Jericho continue to appear, not speak, not wrestle, and leave, all the way through the Royal Rumble PPV. Having him disrupt and change the result of a main event match at Royal Rumble would be the perfect way to cap the gimmick, and the perfect motivation to have someone finally interrupt him and confront him at the Raw following the Royal Rumble.

And also the perfect way to make sure he turns the crowd against him so Jericho can establish his heel cred clearly, which is how his character has always worked best.

Alberto Del Rio might not be headed for the compost bins just yet, but he is off the house show tour and off TV (at least on an in-ring capacity) for a short time.

That’s because Del Rio is rehabbing a groin injury suffered in the main event of last Monday’s RAW broadcast. While he’s not expected to be out a long time, he will be out for a little while, as a precautionary measure, so that the injury doesn’t lead to a more long-term issue.

Happy holidays was the message the WWE seems to want to send to folks in the days following the TLC PPV. In the wake of the last big event of 2011 on WWE’s calendar, two titles changed hands that night, and one more changed hands on RAW.

The WWE Divas title changed hands on RAW, when Alicia Fox scored an upset victory over Beth Phoenix to win the title. Fox is a babyface compared to the heelish Phoenix. I guess that leaves Phoenix free to browse stylish maternity clothes.

At the WWE TLC PPV, in perhaps the most enjoyable match of the night, Zack Ryder scored an upset win over Dolph Ziggler to obtain his first legitimate title since entering WWE. Woo, woo, woo! You know it!

Also at the PPV, Big Show won his first title in nine years, scoring a victory over Mark Henry. His reign, though, lasted all of forty-five seconds as Daniel Bryan cashed in his Money In the Bank contract four months earlier than he had promised, taking advantage of a Henry post-match attack on Big Show to pin a passed-out Show and score the World Heavyweight Championship.

At TLC, the only champ to retain his title was face champ, WWE Title holder, C.M. Punk.

The WWE Tag Team titles are held by Air Boom, meaning that the only meaningful WWE title currently held by a heel is the WWE Intercontinental Championship, currently held by Cody Rhodes. Does this make Rhodes the top heel in the WWE?

Probably not. But it does mean that we could see some potential heel turns in the near future if the current set of champions lasts for a while. And I wouldn’t complain at all if John Cena was among them; a heel turn could be a career-saver, in his case.

After being the star of 11 of 12 PPV events this year, John Cena currently has no match going into TLC 2011 tonight. The best match of the night promises to be C.M. Punk defending against The Miz and Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Title in a three-way tables, ladders and chairs match in the main event.

Also of interest is the Mark Henry vs. Big Show rematch. In the first go-round, they wrestled to no decision after a reverse body drop of Show by Henry off the top rope collapsed the ring, a callback to the Show/Brock Lesnar match on Smackdown several years ago. If WWE is wise, they’ll put this match on last if they intend to collapse the ring again.

Finally, the long-delayed payoff to the Kevin Nash-Triple H feud will take place tonight as well. Those are three main-event-worthy matches, and set the table well to leave 2011 in a high note, if they all deliver.

Will Cena really no-show TLC? Or will a last-minute match be found? We’ll know soon enough.

Far more than the upcoming Cena-The Rock match at WrestleMania 28 in Miami, a potential “two eras” matchup that would definitely put butts in seats is a match involving C.M. Punk facing off at WrestleMania 29 with Stone Cold Steve Austin at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. Combine that with Undertaker having what could be his final pro match that year, with The Streak potentially still alive, and you’d have a WrestleMania to remember.

But in a recent ESPN interview, Punk ripped on The Rock for not mixing well with other workers and crew backstage, a problem Austin never had but has been a frequent complaint about The People’s Champ since his days as a WWE regular.

Still, I get nervous when WWE starts booking main events a year away and more; after all, every WWE talent is one wellness policy violation, one bad fall on an ankle, or one back surgery laser away from sitting out for months while rehabbing. It’s risky business.

WWE wrestler Ron Killings, better known as popular heel R-Truth, “got got” recently. I’m not talking about the injury angle at the end of RAW, or his mythical conspiracy theories; I’m talking about him being nabbed violating the company’s Employee Wellness Policy.

The suspension went into effect after Monday’s RAW, so Killing won’t be eligible to return until the RAW broadcast following Christmas Day, on Monday, December 26. The injury angle and the breakup of the Awesome Truth team will offer an immediate feud for Killings upon his return, with former tag teammate The Miz.

Let’s hope Killings learns his lesson and doesn’t flush away a promising in-ring career. It would be a shame to see an entertainer with his feel for the business to end up selling medical step stools for a living. There are plenty of folks gifted at that already.

Linda McMahon, who will be testing a second run at the Senate in the next election cycle, announced her support of fellow New Englander Mitt Romney in the current battle for the GOP nomination for president. McMahon, a RINO in the mold of John McCain and Mitt Romney, surprised no one with the move; not only does it play well regionally with East Coast RINOs, but Romney is the closest match to McMahon in her RINOism.

So if you’re searching for good girlfriend gift ideas for Christmas, a campaign contribution to the Romney campaign is one way to go among East Coast RINOs, especially if you’re a WWE-loving one.

But I’m certain there are better ideas.

Say it isn’t so, Broski!

The WWE may have embraced Zack Ryder as an in-ring TV personality in recent weeks, but now that he’s officially under contract, the WWE Internet Champion has had the latest episode of his weekly Z! The Long Island Ice Z Story blocked by WWE, under the claim it’s now WWE copyrighted material.

Ryder posted a frustrated tweet on YouTube, but hey, at least he’s pulling down a WWE paycheck now, right? When you take credit card factoring into the calculation, he’s still better off.

As was revealed on RAW, John Cena selected his partner to face off against The Miz and R-Truth at Survivor Series, and his choice was none other than his scheduled WrestleMania opponent, The Rock. Far from taking the sheen off the novelty of Rock’s in-ring return, a pre-WM appearance has been expected for some time, as a build-up to the big showdown next spring.

Those with SD memory cards aplenty may even have, stored away somewhere, episodes of RAW in which Mike Tyson’s guest spot at WrestleMania was similarly promoted. Given that Dwayne Johnson is a WWE product and knows their system, expect more cameos and pre-WM involvement from The Rock in the final months leading up to his big showdown with Cena.

In sports entertainment, it’s hard to know when something’s real and when it’s a work; however, it would be baffling to understand why Vince McMahon would choose voluntarily to adopt a sickly demeanor during his appearance on last Monday’s RAW. He entered the arena without any of his typical energy and swagger, and seemed lacking in energy while in the ring with Triple H.

There are only reports suggesting McMahon was suffering from the flu; but is it possible that age is finally catching up to the savvy promoter? Currently 66, McMahon is past retirement age, but already seems a shadow of his former self from as recently as five years ago.

While he once struck a figure that helped him seem credible in the ring when he’d opt to let Steve Austin or someone have a storyline match with him, he now looks like an aging executive from whom you might solcit an RV insurance quote.

While “Hunter as CEO” has been a storyline WWE had run with a measure of success since this summer when the whole C.M. Punk storyline began, it could become reality sooner than later that the company’s day-to-day operations will be turned over to Stephanie and her husband.

If so, it will mark the end of an historic era; but let’s hope we don’t have to write Vinnie-Mac’s final on-screen notes any time soon. In small doses, he’s still entertaining.

Late last week, the WWE released a four-pack of superstars from its roster. Gone are Melina Perez, David Hart Smith, Chris Masters, and Vladimir Kozlov from the active roster. Rumors are hot also that WWE diva Gail Kim has quit WWE, if a Twitter post attributed to her account is to be believed.

Melina is perhaps the biggest loss; a former Diva’s champ as well as one-time manager of the MNM tag team that included Adam Birch (Joey Mercury) and John Morrison (Johnny Nitro), she had recently fallen out of favor with WWE. It’s unclear whether Kim is gone, but she has made little impact since coming on board after a stint at TNA.

Kozlov never lived up to the hype around his debut, and Chris Masters had long ago faded into the background. David Hart Smith was part of the New Hart Connection tag team on Smackdown.

Both Melina and Kim were featured last Monday on the RAW Divas battle royal; Melina was the first diva eliminated, and then Kim eliminated herself shortly thereafter, so it appears there may have been a backstage reality to the in-ring booking this time. Whether that means they are looking for girlfriend gifts for new girlfriend or not is unclear, but certainly there are great places to get some if they need them.

This Monday, the WWE will air the final episode of this season’s edition of TOUGH ENOUGH, and right now, it’s a bit too close to call. And it shouldn’t be.

The two finalists are big man Andy Leavine and the charismatic Luke Robinson. In all honesty, I felt Andy should have been the one to go this week, but Jeremiah did hit a wall in terms of his readiness to work a wrestling match as opposed to an MMA match. So Andy stays in and survives to the final two.

Apparently, Andy and Luke will face off in a five-minute exhibition match at WWE’s developmental territory, FCW. It’s nice that they’re not going to try and fit this match into something done in front of a RAW crowd. For a show like this to have credibility, they need to have these kids pay their dues, as well as determine how to find my ring size. Okay, maybe not that last bit.

Still, the point is, whichever one wins the WWE contract still has plenty of learning to do. The trainers and Steve Austin seem to favor Andy because of his big frame, but that’s the kind of thinking that produced such flops as (sorry to say it, but it’s the truth) Kevin Nash, Sid Vicious and probably even The Big Show. Andy substitutes alligator tears for actual passion, and has wept his way through three potential eliminations, only to be saved by other trainees who were even worse.

But for my money, that stuff needs to end with the finale; while he is, as Stone Cold pointed out last week, “twitchy,” the truth is that Luke Robinson has all the makings of developing into the next Randy Orton. He has a sleek but powerful build, a photogenic cockiness, and a natural heel persona that closely resembles Orton at his best.

If Andy somehow is chosen over Luke, then it would signal that WWE is returning to the days when they valued size over showmanship. If one examines the total package, however, Luke has to be considered among the elite; and he’s only been in the bottom three once or twice prior to their being only three finalists. Andy’s been there a lot.

So yes, here he is, my choice for 2011 Tough Enough winner… Luke Robinson: