Chris Jericho is the talk of the pro wrestling world right now and that’s largely due to his recent commitment to All Elite Wrestling.
The former WWE champion chose AEW over Vince McMahon’s company, which surely came as a shock to many fans. Jericho recently talked about his decision to make the move on his Talk is Jericho podcast.
“What AEW is doing is they’re showing me respect. And they have a lot of expectations for me, like the cart is on my back. I have to do great work and I have to go the extra mile to help make this work. In WWE? It doesn’t matter what I do, it’s still gonna be WWE. In AEW, it does matter what I do and I have to be my best and I have to really use my 29 years’ of experience to help build this company.”
It certainly sounds as though Jericho will become a major focus for the new company. This may or may not come as a surprise to many, who perhaps don’t understand just how important he will be to the success of All Elite Wrestling.
But some of those fans are already whispering about Jericho’s age. Is Y2J too old to become a top guy once again, especially in a brand new company?
“I have to do the best job I can cuz if not, out company’s not going to get off the ground. It’s not. I’m expected to be the best Chris Jericho I can be and I don’t give a d**n if I’m 48-years old. In the ring, I’m better than I was when I was 28, better than I was when I was 38. My conditioning is great, I feel great, my ideas are great, my creativity is great, so I don’t buy that. I go see the (Rolling) Stones and Mick Jagger is still the best frontman in the world; not for a 75-year old man, for anybody. He’s Mick Jagger. So that’s why I was brought into AEW for the offer I got and for the amount of focus and potential and all that sort of stuff that I’m gonna have on me.”
AEW has yet to publicly announce a television deal. But when the company finally gets rolling, Chris Jericho should become a central figure and perhaps the central figure, on a regular basis.