Chris Jericho spent AEW’s early years planted near the top of the card, but he says those days are over — and he’s perfectly fine with it. Jericho believes AEW has finally built enough legitimate main-event talent that he can now wrestle anywhere on the show without feeling like the company needs him carrying the biggest programs.
During Wrestling Observer Radio, Jericho started talking about just how many wrestlers are currently sitting on AEW’s roster that he could still work with. He mentioned Hechicero, Andrade, Kevin Knight, Ricochet, Tommaso Ciampa, Jack Perry, Mark Davis, Kyle Fletcher and The Rascalz before making it clear that he’ll take whatever Tony Khan throws at him.
“I’ve always said, whatever Tony wants me to do, I’m happy to do it. Whatever, man. Whatever you want.”
That wasn’t always possible. Jericho admitted that four or five years ago, AEW still needed him around the main event because the company was trying to establish enough wrestlers who could eventually take over those spots.
“Even four or five years ago, I pretty much had to be in the main event or one of the main-event components because we were still building other main eventers.”
Jericho believes that job has now been done. AEW has enough wrestlers capable of leading the company that he doesn’t care whether he opens the show, wrestles in the middle or closes the night.
“Now we’re getting to the point where there’s so many guys that can solidly lead the charge that I can be opening match, middle match, semi-main event, main event, sometimes — whatever it is you want me to do.”
Jericho doesn’t see moving around the card as a demotion either. After 36 years in wrestling, he believes his value comes from being somebody AEW can throw into just about any situation and trust him to make it work.
“Because I have the experience of 36 years to know how to handle that, it still makes me valuable on the roster. Like, whatever you need, I’ll make it good.”
That mindset is nothing new for Jericho. He said Vince McMahon used to give him basically the same marching orders in WWE, even when the creative sounded completely insane.
“That’s what Vince used to say. Like, ‘I just booked it. You make it good.’ Like, how am I supposed to make this good? You’ve got the Planet of the Apes coming down and a cake that’s supposed to be thrown in Stephanie’s face. ‘I don’t know, Chris. Make it good.’ And you do your best, and sometimes it’s good and sometimes you tried.”
Jericho said that is essentially where he sees himself in AEW now — the veteran Tony Khan can hand something to when the company needs somebody capable of making an idea work.
“At least, you know, like, okay, we need something done. Give the torch to Jericho and he can go handle it. So it’s kind of the way that I feel about AEW right now because there’s so much depth on that roster.”
Jericho clearly knows AEW doesn’t need him occupying a main-event slot every week anymore, and he seems to view that as proof the company has grown rather than a knock against his own position. After helping AEW establish its first wave of stars, Jericho now appears comfortable moving around the card and filling whatever role the company needs.
Do you think Chris Jericho is more valuable to AEW moving around the card instead of constantly being in the main event? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback below.
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