During a recent interview withĀ Sports Illustrated, Chris Jericho commented on signing with AEW, and if he had any doubts he was going to be a part of the company.
Ā āI never had any doubts. I know who I am as a performer. Whether youāre 29, 39, 49, or anywhere in between, you either know what youāre doing or you donāt. You need to adapt and evolve, which is what Iāve done to stay on top. Chris Jericho in 2019 might be the biggest in name value and in prominence that Iāve been. Thatās because I was smart enough to evolve when the time was right. Whenever I thought something was getting stale, I changed. Sometimes Iād change before it grew stale. When I left WWE in 2017 right after working with Kevin Owens, people asked, āWhy would you leave? Youāre so popular.ā But I could see the writing on the wall. Two, three months from that point, Iād just be another guy. And āThe Listā would just be another thing. I could see that happening before it happened, so I wasnāt worried about my role in AEW.
I knew Iād need to be a bridge to get people to watch the show. Outside of the bubble of hardcore wrestling fans, you have a whole country full of people who hadnāt seenĀ the Young BucksĀ on TV or Kenny Omega. They didnāt know Adam āHangmanā Page, and they hadnāt seen the new-and-improved Cody Rhodes. The last time some people saw him was when he was Stardust. But they knew Chris Jericho and appreciate the work that Iāve done, so they were willing to check out AEW. Now they get to see this entire roster of great performers.
That was my vision. I knew I needed to get new guys over and make stars very quickly. Weāve had new stars emerging in the first three weeks, especially with Cody, who is now the top babyface in the company. I think that surprised a lot of people that now love him.
You canāt teach experience, you canāt teach moxie. So I knew, and still know, my job: continue to bring AEW to the masses. The best way to do that, at this time, is by having Chris Jericho as champion. Obviously, that might be different a few months from now, but itās the right decision for the company right now.
Everything has worked out exactly the way it had to make AEW where we are today, which is the hottest wrestling promotion and the coolest wrestling promotion in the world today.ā
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