It’s a wrestling fan’s dream match. Jericho was at one time, and became the only man so far, to wear both the WWE Title and the World Championship Title once controlled by WCW, at the same time, giving rise to his reputation as the world’s only Undisputed Champion. He also made his career for his microphone skills.

Punk is a wrestler much in the tradition of Jericho; his mic skills literally saved WWE from low ratings and renewed interest in its television product through his “shoot interviews” this past summer.

So it looks like great news for real wrestling fans; both Jericho and Punk know how to work a match and ring psychology, they know how to talk, and they’ll probably outperform Rock-Cena at this year’s WrestleMania. Who could ask for more?

I could: I want a vTech Kidizoom camera for WrestleMania! Hee hee.

While not shutting the door to a possible future return, Jericho cited the tough WWE schedule and how it lead to his struggle with how to get rid of dark circles under his eyes after long stints on the WWE road schedule. Jericho is committed to his band, Fozzy, and felt it was time to spend more time with them, as well as looking into more acting and hosting gigs.

Jericho hosted the game show Downfall on ABC last summer, and had a very brief role in the SNL-inspired movie, MacGruber.

Downfall is described as a trivia show in which contestants are perched atop the roof of a Los Angeles high rise and as the answer questions, the “largest conveyor belt ever seen on TV’ will send cash, prizes, personal possessions, friends and family over the side of the building.

Sounds suspenseful and tacky. A perfect fit for the alphabet net.

That would fit with their recent acquisition of Jeff Hardy, who signed with TNA on the same day he was arraigned on drug charges.

I’m a bit behind on minor updates like these, due to the stability of my desktop computer; but I’m taking it to Best Buy tomorrow for servicing so I wanted to get this up before all I have to work on is a slow, out-of-date laptop.

So what’s his reward? A pair of Dansko shoes? A Rolex? A shot at the WWE title?

Nope. Instead, Y2J is now a unified tag team champion with, of all people, The Big Show. Thanks, Night of Champions 2009… don’t do us anymore favors, OK?

Paul “Big Show” Wight was at one time a promising talent but he’s blown opportunity after opportunity to really take the reins and become a mega-star. Instead, a lack of intensity and lackadaisical performances have peppered his career. And Jericho’s reward for being a stud is to be this guy’s partner?

Some sad way of saying, “Thanks,” Vinnie Mac!

While Rey-Rey is uneven and either rises or falls to the level of his opponent, Jericho has been WWE’s most consistent in-ring worker for the last year, and is showing no signs of slowing down at this point. The match felt a bit short at 12 minutes, but then Vince McMahon is rarely prone to run matches much longer than that outside of the main event.

While Hardy isn’t exactly missing out on Westgate or anything, it’s unfortunate that WWE still hasn’t seen fit to give him an extended run with the strap; he’s clearly one of the company’s hardest in-ring workers, right up there with Chris Jericho.

Truth is, Smackdown has been a worst of WWE’s three weekly broadcasts for some time now, but with Jericho now on Smackdown, that has the potential to change; he immediately becomes the most important member of the SmackDown roster and could easily carry the top title with honor, though to be honest, he doesn’t need it to enhance his drawing power.

While commercials hawking Fenphedra have often been more entertaining on Friday night than Smackdown’s main event matches, that now has a chance to change.

He might get a better match out of a set of Plum trees. Not a one of these guys is still in even his 40s.

Of course it’s bound to be disappointing considering what the rumor mill threw out there: Steve Austin, Ric Flair, Mickey Rourke, even Hulk Hogan. None of them came to fruition. While the handicap match is sure to be a setup for making the fracas seem more competitive, it’s just disappointing considering the alternatives.

Where’s Mick Foley when you need him, Vince?

Oh yeah. Pissing his legend away over on TNA.

Unfortunately, the situation escalated to the point where Jericho was verbally and physically assaulted before WWE Security arrived to restore order; Jericho did shove WWE Security around a bit – allegedly – demanding that they “do their job” during the incident.

No charges have been filed, but there is a video over on the TMZ Web site.

Jericho, who has been turning in match-of-the-year contenders most of the year with Shawn Michaels, is now primed for a long feud with Cena, and his experience from the extended Michaels feud benefited him tonight. Both Cena and Jericho earned their designer watches tonight, and although Cena predictably won, the match didn’t necessarily resolve the feud, so much as add fuel to the fire.

But considering we’re now in the run-up to WrestleMania, that’s only apropos.