Top AEW Star Explains Why He Wasn’t ‘The Guy In WWE’

AEW

Former AEW World Champion Chris Jericho has explained why he wasn’t “the guy in WWE.”

Launching in 2019, All Elite Wrestling has gone on to inconceivable growth with three weekly shows on TNT and TBS as well as eight pay-per-views in 2023.

The company has proven to be the biggest rival to WWE since the Monday Night Wars. AEW has worked with several promotions, such as NJPW, IMPACT Wrestling, AAA and CMLL, and hosted their first international event with All In London.

On the latest episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Chris Jericho addressed why he made the jump to AEW instead of returning to WWE.

When asked about how much an impact his signing to AEW would make and why he joined the promotion, Jericho said:

“The short answer to that is yes, I knew the value that I had. Which is one of the reasons why I really wanted to do it.”

“It’s been well-documented that my last run in WWE, even though it was super popular and super over, was still not a main-event program.”

“And in my opinion, it should have been and it was, at least from the fan interest and the reactions and stuff.”

“So I remember thinking I could stay in WWE for as long as I want and just be a guy here because that’s basically [all that was left.]”

“I sort of felt like I did when I left WCW where I had this great storyline with Goldberg but I knew it was never going to get me any higher so I had to go somewhere else which was WWF at the time.”

“Same thing with WWE, I could do more in WWE. I could do more than the second match on the show.”

“So I went to New Japan and headlined the Tokyo Dome three years in a row. First Tokyo Dome was around the time Tony started talking about AEW and I thought I can stay in WWE and be a guy or I can be THE GUY, which I’ve never been in WWE.”

Chris Jericho is currently in a tag team with Kenny Omega, known as “The Golden Jets.” They are the current number one contenders for the AEW World Tag Team Championships.

Transcription via SEScoops

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