All the clues pointed to Chris Jericho making his much-anticipated return to WWE last night on Raw, and you could sense the crowd in Philadelphia just waiting to erupt into a frenzy at the first sight of “Y2J.”

But he was a no-show – again. It also was strongly hinted that Jericho would be appearing at the No Mercy pay-per-view earlier this month, but that didn’t happen, either. I always figured Jericho’s return would occur on live television – either at Raw or on pay-per-view – so I wouldn’t expect him to appear at tonight’s Smackdown/ECW tapings on Long Island, either.

For some reason, this situation reminds me of a pivotal scene in the original Bad News Bears movie. Bad boy Kelly Leak came to bat at a crucial point in the big game and promptly proceeded to let two perfect pitches go by for strikes. When the coach angrily asked him what he was doing, Leak replied, “Just building up tension.” He then smacked the game-winning home run.

That might not be a great analogy, but my point is that WWE has gotten our hopes up twice, only to let us down. But the teases are building up tension, and Jericho’s return still has the potential to be a home run.

WWE should be careful, however, because there is a point where feelings of anticipation and tension cross over into feelings of being misled and disappointed. If WWE doesn’t deliver Jericho soon, it will be the equivalent of Kelly Leak striking out.