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Chris Jericho claimed that he was the sole reason for AEW's current TV deals and that Cody Rhodes wasn't a huge name when the company first started many years ago.
Jericho was one of All Elite Wrestling's first acquisitions on January 8, 2019. Prior to that, Rhodes and The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) signed on January 3 as wrestlers and executive vice presidents.
Months later, on May 15, 2019, AEW partnered with WarnerMedia for a weekly episodic television show to be broadcast on TNT. It led to the creation of Dynamite on October 2, 2019 and Rampage on August 13, 2021.
On January 5, 2022, Dynamite moved to TBS, making Rampage the lone program of the promotion on TNT.
During an interview on AEW Unrestricted podcast, Jericho stated that Rhodes, the Jacksons and Kenny Omega were household names in their own right. However, according to him, no one between them had the starpower like he has in terms of being a sought-after commodity on the United States' national television.
"Keep in mind, no-one really knew Cody at that point. He’d been gone for years, and the last time we’d seen him, he was Stardust when he left [WWE.] And as much buzz as Kenny [Omega] and Matt and Nick Jackson had, they were still mostly just regional guys. They were worldwide stars, but when it comes to national TV in the States, they didn’t have any experience with that," Jericho said. [H/T SEScoops]
In his current run, Jericho won the AEW World Championship (inaugural) and built the stables, The Inner Circle and The Jericho Appreciation Society. He is also the reigning Ring of Honor World Champion.
He was also involved in some of the iconic feuds against Omega, Jon Moxley, MJF and Eddie Kingston, among others.
Chris Jericho on if AEW would fare without him
As the same episode continued, Chris Jericho gave his honest thoughts about how AEW would manage to survive without his iconic name.
The Ocho thought that the company would still succeed, but wouldn't have the impact he imprinted in the past.
"If I’m the bridge to get here, check me out, and then look at all these other guys that we have… Would the company have happened if I wasn’t there? Probably. But I don’t think it would have grown as quickly as it did, or maybe gotten off to such a huge start," Jericho stated. [H/T SEScoops]
Jericho's wave of success in Tony Khan's company continued after a successful first ROH World Title defense last night on Dynamite against Bandido.
He then proceeded to challenge Bryan Danielson for a title match two weeks from now (October 12) at Dynamite in Toronto, Canada, his home country.
Do you think Chris Jericho was the sole reason AEW took off and became what it is today? Sound off in the comments section.
What makes Sting special? His first AEW opponent opens up RIGHT HERE.
