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It has been less than a year since The Inner Circle made its debut in AEW, but the Chris Jericho led-group has already established their place as one of the more successful factions in All Elite Wrestling right now.
When all said and done, The Inner Circle will probably go down as one of the best factions in AEW, if not the greatest of all-time in the promotion's history. Jericho first lined-up The Inner Circle in the aftermath of AEW: All Out in 2019 when Sammy Guevara, Jake Hager, Santana, and Ortiz helped 'Le Champion' in the initial phase of his AEW World Title reign.
While conversing his with fellow stablemates on a recent episode of the Talk Is Jericho podcast, Chris Jericho revealed that the idea for him was always to have his very own faction when he arrived in AEW. The former AEW World Champion also claimed that the idea for him was to have professional Boxer Anthony Ogogo in the faction and Jericho also pitched the idea of having MJF in The Inner Circle.
However, both the pitched ideas failed to take form as Jericho was determined to work alongside Jake Hager, whereas, AEW management wanted MJF to be on his own and compete more as a solo wrestler.
The Inner Circle currently consists of five of AEW's finest Superstars but in this article, we will take a look at what could've been the scenario if any of these wrestlers had joined the group.
With that being said, here are five stars from the current AEW roster who could've been a member of The Inner Circle.
#5 Austin Gunn
Son of WWE Hall of Famer Billy Gun, Austin hasn't had much going for him in All Elite Wrestling since signing with the promotion in early 2020. Gunn has mostly been competing on AEW Dark, teaming up with his father Billy Gunn as part of The Gunn Club.
Despite being in his 20s, Austin Gunn could've gotten off to the perfect start on AEW, given the promotion's creative had opted to align Austin with Chris Jericho's faction. Austin is an incredible in-ring talent and has also enjoyed a stint under Ring of Honor in the past.
The 25-year-old could've easily portrayed the role of the cocky, young heel in The Inner Circle, similar to Sammy Guevara's role for the group.
#4 Jack Evans
Jack Evans first started out in All Elite Wrestling with his tag team partner Angelico, as the duo reformed the tag team known as Los Gueros del Cielo, this time under the name of The Hybrid2.
While The Hybrid2 was in the mix for the AEW Tag Team Championships in the early stages of the promotion, they haven't quite found the success they were hoping for under the AEW banner. Maybe, a start to their AEW journey as singles wrestlers would've been the better option.
Maybe even a stint for Evans in The Inner Circle?
Both Angelico and Evans are two incredibly talented singles wrestlers and fans who have followed them throughout their journey under PWG, Lucha Libre AAA, and Lucha Underground, probably have an idea of what I'm referring to.
Having Evans pitch in as a young protege of The Inner Circle would've been a solid decision. The former Lucha Underground sensation has already proven his worth as a cruiserweight star and under the guidance of Inner Circle leader Chris Jericho, the former would've gotten the proper exposure in AEW.
Evans also competed against Kenny Omega on AEW Dark when he unsuccessfully challenged for the AAA Mega Championship and it was one of those occasions when the former proved how good of a singles wrestler he actually is.
#3 Kip Sabian
It looks like Kip Sabian has finally found his rhythm in AEW, especially after the promotion decided to turn him heel and with the assistance of Penelope Ford, the former IPW UK World Champion has been on quite the formidable run in All Elite Wrestling, over the recent few weeks.
However, having Sabian join The Inner Circle in the initial stage of his AEW career could've done wonders for the young brit. Sabian has the capability of portraying the perfect heel who would've fit right into The Inner Circle.
Given the fact that Chris Jericho has been pretty vocal about adding a potential 6th member to the faction, Sabian could've been added to the group along with Penelope Ford, who not only would've represented The Inner Circle in the Women's Division but been the manager of her fiance, as well.
Sabian currently is working as part of a tag team with Jimmy Havoc and has been doing pretty great as a tag team wrestler. However, something tells me 'Superbad' and 'Le Champion' would've been a solid duo as part of The Inner Circle and had the potential of being an entertaining tag team.
#2 Joey Janela
Maybe what The Inner Circle really needed was a Bad Boy.
Joey Janela is by far one of the best and incredible in-ring talents AEW has on their roster. However, Janela has somewhat failed to live up to his expectations, given the AEW creative hasn't given him the freedom that he rightfully deserves.
Nevertheless, Janela did compete in some high-octane matches in AEW, including a memorable bout against Jon Moxley from last year. But, Janela's success rate in AEW is nowhere near to what he had achieved on the Independent Circuit.
All of that could've easily been different if Janela was a part of The Inner Circle, serving as the group's top mid-carder, possibly even challenging for the AEW World Championship at some stage. Janela is an outstanding in-ring competitor and has pretty great promo skills, as well.
That automatically makes him a perfect fit for Chris Jericho's faction. 'The Bad Boy' could've used The Inner Circle to his advantage, making a name for himself under the faction as a dastardly heel, and then eventually breaking away from the faction. Janela has the potential of becoming a top babyface and AEW could've easily executed on the given story.
#1 MJF
A group of talented heels with the best heel on the AEW roster today? Sign me up!
Let's not forget, the whole point of this is still the same, as Chris Jericho openly admitted that he initially wanted MJF to be a part of The Inner Circle. Matter of fact, All Elite Wrestling even teased the possibility of MJF joining Jericho's faction, while both men shared a common enemy in Cody Rhodes.
MJF is by far one of the best wrestlers on the planet today and his mic-skills are off the charts. The former MLW World Middleweight Champion initially started out in AEW as Cody Rhodes' best friend and was on a nice, little babyface run before he eventually exposed his true colors.
Much to everyone's heartbreak, MJF turned his back on Cody and cost him the AEW World Title after throwing in the towel for the latter in his match against Chris Jericho from AEW: Full Gear.
If AEW had decided to align MJF with The Inner Circle, then the storyline could've played out in a whole different manner. The former MLW sensation would've started-out under the guidance of Chris Jericho, instead of Cody, and Jericho being the incredible heel he is, things would've panned out pretty nicely for The Inner Circle, I'd say.
If needed AEW could've also aligned Wardlow as MJF's personal bodyguard and Inner Circle's 6th member, only for the latter to eventually turn his back on Jericho and set his sights on the AEW World Title.
MJF vs Jericho for the World Title certainly would've been a money feud for AEW and with the involvement of Wardlow, the rest of The Inner Circle, and the debuting Jake Hager, who could've replaced Wardlow in the faction, the storyline would've been off the charts.
