Chris Jericho Responds To Haters Of His AEW Gimmick
Chris Jericho has some thoughts for wrestling fans who don’t like “The Learning Tree” taking up TV time on AEW programming.
As the first-ever AEW World Champion who joined the company when it launched in January 2019, Chris Jericho has proven himself to be loyal to All Elite Wrestling.
In the five-plus years since he started in AEW, Jericho has been a heel for most of his run. Jericho led heel stables like the Inner Circle and Jericho Appreciation Society. Once the JAS ended, Jericho was a babyface for part of 2023 until going back to his heel ways again in early 2024.
The FTW Championship was designed by Taz in the mid-1990s in ECW with FTW meaning “F**k The World.” Since Jericho has won it, he has called it the “For The World” Title, which has infuriated Taz and his son Hook, the former champion.
Jericho calls himself “The Learning Tree” while leading a stable that includes Big Bill and Bryan Keith. During some Jericho segments, fans chant “Please Retire” at the 53-year-old Jericho.
Does Chris Jericho Plan To Stop Doing “The Learning Tree” Gimmick?
While speaking to the Creative Imbalance podcast, Chris Jericho claimed that “The Learning Tree” is a hit character.
“Bottom line is, it delivers, it’s one of the top rated segments on the show every week. People are into it. As much as people want to cry from the hills that they want to behead Chris Jericho and kick me off planet Earth and send me off in space in a shuttle, that’s a very small amount of people.”
“What are the people reacting to in the venue? What are they watching? We have a hit character with a lot of potential who’s helping a lot of different people move up the ladder, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Jericho successfully defended the “coveted” FTW Title on last week’s AEW Dynamite episode when he beat Minoru Suzuki, who made it seem like he wasn’t done with the champion.