Chris Jericho Named Wrestler Who Best Represents AEW After First 5 Years
A former AEW wrestler believes that Chris Jericho has been the wrestler who best represents the company in the first five years of the organization.
When All Elite Wrestling launched in January 2019, some of the big names that were immediately linked to the company were Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson), who had the role of Executive Vice Presidents. Kenny Omega would join AEW a few months later as a fourth EVP as well.
There were also two big names who had a long history with World Wrestling Entertainment – former WWE World Champion Chris Jericho and WWE Hall of Fame announcer Jim Ross.
The involvement of a former top WWE guy like Chris Jericho and the beloved announcer Jim Ross gave AEW credibility due to the star power of both men.
At AEW All Out 2019, the company’s second-ever PPV, Chris Jericho beat “Hangman” Adam Page to become the first AEW World Champion in company history. When the first AEW Dynamite episode took place in October 2019, Jericho formed a group called the Inner Circle that went on to dominate AEW for a few years.
During his AEW run, Jericho has also held the ROH World Title and led other groups including the Jericho Appreciation Society as well as his current stable with Big Bill & Bryan Keith while Jericho continues his “Learning Tree” gimmick.
Matt Hardy was in AEW for four years before his 2024 departure. Hardy worked with Jericho for a long time in WWE, so he knows him very well. While speaking on the latest edition of The Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy podcast, Matt explained why he thought Jericho was the Most Valuable Player (or Performer) in AEW’s first five years.
“I do think that Chris Jericho is kind of reminiscent of Hulk Hogan at WCW to a degree because he was the guy that came in, he was the big star, legit top guy and he kind of came in and he was a great representative for people that were just going to tune in like, I don’t know all these guys that are here, but I do know Chris Jericho.”
“Chris Jericho is the first person that pops in my mind when you think about the first five years of AEW because he’s kind of been just the guy that has represented AEW more than anything.”
That led to Hardy mentioning The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega as well while also speaking more about Jericho’s impact in All Elite Wrestling.
“The Bucks are obviously very much the heart and soul of AEW, you know, they were a couple of the guys that started. Kenny Omega is also a guy that is part of the heart and soul, he’s one of the guys that started with the Bucks and Cody.”
“But, Kenny obviously has been out for health reasons for the last — he [missed] a lot of time because there was a time where he was off and he was hurt and then he was back and then was out again and he has been out.”
“I don’t know man, I would think for the first five years, the guy that really stands out more than anybody else as far as representing AEW is Chris Jericho.”
Tony Khan Isn’t Sure AEW Would Have Launched Without Chris Jericho
In the build up to AEW’s fifth anniversary, Owner Tony Khan spoke about how important Jericho has been for the company while admitting that there may not be an AEW without Jericho signing with the company.
So many great matches in AEW over the years. I don’t know if it would have been possible for us to launch AEW without Chris Jericho’s involvement. He’s been a fixture and a great part of AEW throughout the five years [of Dynamite].
On the fifth anniversary of AEW Dynamite, Chris Jericho had an in-ring promo confrontation with the ROH World Champion Mark Briscoe. At AEW WrestleDream on October 12th, Jericho will challenge Briscoe for the ROH World Title, which is a championship that Jericho has held in the past.