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When Chris Jericho came to AEW, he got what he always wanted, and that was his first stable, The Inner Circle. With the additions of Santana & Ortiz and Jake Hager, Jericho had all the ingredients he wanted for his diverse heel crew. And of course, there was Sammy Guevara.
Sammy Guevara may have been suspended from AEW due to lewd comments over Sasha Banks four years ago, but that hasn't dampened his rising stardom one bit. The young 20-something has been in most Inner Circle segments and has always found a place alongside Le Champion.
Their strong on-screen chemistry has been some of the entertaining parts of AEW Dynamite, so it makes sense why Chris Jericho wanted Sammy Guevara in the group. But it goes deeper than that.
Chris Jericho first saw Sammy Guevara at an NWA PPV
In an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Chris Jericho spoke on the original idea for The Inner Circle to include Pentagon and Phoenix, but Jericho didn't think a masked tag team would feel too gimmicky. Santana and Ortiz seemed to be the better fit.
More interestingly, Chris Jericho wanted MJF, but he was involved in a feud with Cody Rhodes at the time. Thus, Jericho decided to pick Sammy, but it was for a variety of reasons. He said: (H/T WrestlingNews.co)
"I wanted MJF but I think Cody wanted to do something with him so I said Sammy Guevara. I scouted Sammy Guevara and brought him to the table. I’ve never met him before in my life. I watched him on an NWA PPV. I said this guy is good. He looks like an assh*le.”
Interestingly, MJF's recent interactions with The Inner Circle seem to be coming at the expense of Sammy Guevara.
Could that be the fuse that lights the fire? Only time will tell.
