Chris Jericho on AEW Building New Stars

In an interview with Inside the Ropes, Chris Jericho discussed how AEW is building new stars.

"In AEW, they're basically is no writer. It's up to me and I embraced that. From the moment that I started here, I've planned out big chunks of, 'OK, who's available for me to work with?' Because everybody's got their own storylines and things that are going on, and what can I do with this? So when I see a guy like Orange Cassidy, it's like, 'is anyone else working with Orange Cassidy?' I know the answer is no, so let me. Like I said, I find something that we can really sink our teeth into to make Orange as big of a name as Moxley is, as big of a name is Cody is.

"And to an extent, we've done that, and we've done that in front of basically no people. Orange is very much a crowd favorite. So take the crowd away, it makes it a little harder, but it's the cards that we've been dealt. So I enjoy the long-term storytelling. I enjoy the fact that I have major input in it, and I enjoy the fact that everybody in AEW is basically on the same team working together to make stars and to make make money basically."

"The time is always now for me. If Moxley wins, that's the way to go. If Max wins, that's the way to go. All that matters is, once again, we're building stars, and that's two guys. We're building Moxley as well. Who would have thought a year ago that goofy Dean Ambrose wearing a f--king mask before we had to wear masks because of the corona is now going to be a completely different guy? New name, new character, new attitude, new fan base, and that he's going to be our main event player, he's going to be our champion. Nobody would have guessed that. And then MJF, who I believe is 23 years old, maybe 24."

"When I was 23 or 24, I was working flea markets in Calgary in front of 50 people just trying to make a name for myself. He's already made a name for himself at a main event level. The fact that MJF is in the main event already makes him a champion because this show is going to do a great buy rate. And listen, we're all contributing, but I'm smart enough to know, and also have been in the business long enough, that the main event is the money draw. If we draw 100,000 views or a 150,000 views, that's because people wanted to see the main event. If we draw 20,000 views, that's because people didn't want to see main event."

"Obviously, Mimosa Mayhem is a big part of it. Kenny [Omega] and Hangman [Page] vs. FTR is big part of that. Sammy [Guevara] and Matt [Hardy] and Shida and Thunder Rosa, there's a great list of warm-up acts. But the main event, the headlining is MJF vs. Moxley, and the fact we've put him in that position, MJF, means we have a lot of belief in him and we're expecting him to draw money. And I think he will at 23 years old."