Chris Jericho was once the frontman of The Inner Circle and had a heated feud with The Pinnacle. The former AEW World Champion recently disclosed why the two factions were formed.
Today, the veteran is the face of the Jericho Appreciation Society, but not too long ago, he led The Inner Circle. Unfortunately for Santana and Ortiz, Chris Jericho betrayed them and formed a faction that seems to suit him a lot more.
During his recent appearance on AEW Unrestricted, Chris Jericho recalled how he intended to build new names with his foray into the promotion.
"Moxley and I had a huge feud in WWE but it was not Mox, it was Ambrose. Let’s start building new names, and after I lost to Mox, a whole big thing with Orange Cassidy in front of no people, but then it went to MJF for a year," Jericho said. [From 09:52 onward]
Jericho continued, noting that The Pinnacle and The Inner Circle were meant to build all the stars involved.
"The whole MJF/Pinnacle feud was meant to build MJF and Sammy, that’s why we built it. The Inner Circle was to build Sammy, reinvent Jake [Hager], I never knew who Santana and Ortiz was but [I decided to] put them in the mix. Trying to build as many people as you can, because that’s what wrestling is about," said Jericho. [From 10:16 onward]
Chris Jericho recently looked back on his own time as a young up-and-comer and how he never got to step into the ring with one of the biggest stars of the industry during his prime.
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Chris Jericho believes that his presence in AEW is needed to elevate the younger generation of stars
Jericho remains one of the biggest names on the AEW roster and still draws many eyes to the promotion. Despite most of his former peers being retired, The Ocho still seems to be a legitimate threat as well as dream opponent to many.
During the same episode of AEW Unrestricted, Jericho detailed the rising stars he helped elevate during his run with the promotion.
"Here I am, working with Eddie Kingston for 8 months and I didn’t even know who [he] was – and that’s not a cut down to Eddie, I just didn’t know him. Starting the Jericho Appreciation Society, I didn’t even know who Parker and Menard were, and now they’ve got steam. Let’s constantly build. If I wasn’t here, these other guys wouldn’t be getting the spotlight to start developing their characters!" [From 10:48 onward]
Chris Jericho is currently gearing up to what might be a fighting champion run with the ROH World title. Just how many more stories could be left for the 30-year wrestling veteran?