Why did Chris Jericho join AEW?

Chris Jericho as the All Elite Wrestling World Champion
Chris Jericho as the All Elite Wrestling World Champion

Chris Jericho revealed on his Talk is Jericho podcast in 2020 that he joined AEW because WWE Chairman Vince McMahon told him to go. He also later revealed that All Elite Wrestling offered him the opportunity to be one of their main stars.

Jericho discussed his conversation with Vince McMahon, and also revealed that Vince wanted him to immediately get out of the signed contract:

"I’m not in AEW because I was a rebel. I’m with AEW because Vince went, ‘go.’ And then, when I went, he went, ‘did you sign the contract?’ I said, ‘well, yeah.’ He said, ‘can you get out of it?’ ‘No! You told me to sign it! But [McMahon] had the opportunity to stop it like he did with [Scott Hall], which is very interesting to me because 23 years later, he made the same [mistake]. I love Vince.", Chris Jericho said. (h/t TalkSport)

He also went into detail about his decision on Stone Cold Steve Austin's Broken Skull Sessions on the WWE Network. Chris Jericho mentioned that he didn't want to become a 'second match guy' in WWE. He thus sought out opportunities elsewhere, with AEW offering him the opportunity to be one of its main stars.

Jericho was one of the first notable names to sign with All Elite Wrestling in 2019. The former WWE Intercontinental Champion defeated 'Hangman' Adam Page to become the inaugural AEW World Champion. The match took place at the All Out pay-per-view in August 2019.


What was Chris Jericho's last major storyline in WWE?

Chris Jericho's last major storyline in WWE was with Kevin Owens. The story involved the famous 'Festival of Friendship' segment in which Owens turned on Jericho. The rivalry saw them face-off against each at WrestleMania 33, in which KO won to win the United States Championship.

Le Champion has been very vocal about being disappointed with the storyline not culminating in the main-event of WrestleMania. He told Mature Audience's Mayhem podcast:

"Originally, that was going to be the main event for the world title. Kevin Owens was the champion and I was going to beat him in the main event of WrestleMania as a babyface. Vince said that it’s going to be me versus Kevin Owens for the world title at WrestleMania and you are going to win the title, f*** yeah! Next week, he doesn’t tell me, but I hear that it’s changed to Brock Lesnar versus Bill Goldberg for the title. And not only did they take us out of the main event – and, once again, just because I was told I have no right to it and things change all the time, I’m a big boy, I can handle it. But to take us from the main event slot and then move us to the second match on the card on a card that has 12 matches on it? I was like, that’s a f***ing insult.", Chris Jericho said. (h/t The Mix)

Y2J's last official match with WWE was at the Greatest Royal Rumble pay-per-view held in Saudi Arabia. Chris Jericho entered the 50-man Rumble match and was eliminated by Braun Strowman.

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Edited by Aashran Mahajan