Former AEW World Champion Chris Jericho doesn’t have decades left in his wrestling career — but he’s not interested in coasting through what remains, either.
Appearing on Wrestling Observer Radio, Jericho was questioned how he sees his role in AEW now that he’s back in regular action. He said his mindset hasn’t really changed over the years: he considers himself a company guy who works wherever Tony Khan needs him.
What has changed is his awareness that the road is getting shorter, and with that in mind, he wants to spend his remaining time getting in the ring with wrestlers he hasn’t had the chance to work yet.
I mean, it’s the same as it’s always been. I am a company guy through and through and, contrary to some popular beliefs, I do whatever the boss asks me to do. Obviously, at this stage of the game, where I’m nearing the end of the road at some point, I want to work with as many people that I haven’t worked with.
There’s a lot of young guys on the AEW roster that will never have the benefit of house shows, for example, so they have to learn really quick on the fly, and it’s almost not fair, but it’s the way that the business is now.
Jericho also touched on how differently today’s young talent has to develop compared to his own generation. Without the benefit of regular house shows to work out kinks away from cameras, he pointed out that newer wrestlers are often thrown straight into live television matches that need to deliver immediately, with far less room for trial and error than performers of his era had.
If you have a live match with somebody on TV, it has to be the best that it can be with all the bells and whistles, because you might not get another chance to work with them. And if you don’t have a good one, it could hurt their perception.
He acknowledged that pressure doesn’t weigh on him the same way anymore. After decades in the business, Jericho said he’s reached a point where he’s essentially bulletproof to any single match’s outcome — win, lose, or draw — even though he still pushes to make every match as good as it can be.
It’s not going to hurt me because I’ve been around long enough where you almost get kind of bulletproof — win, lose, draw, whatever. Obviously, I still want to have great matches and still do everything I can to do that.
Jericho stopped short of naming any kind of retirement timeline, but the acknowledgment itself marks one of his clearest admissions yet that the finish line is coming into view.
For now, he’s treating whatever time remains as an opportunity to add new match-ups, mentor younger talent, and keep contributing wherever AEW puts him.
