Chris Jericho became a WWE Superstar under Vince McMahon. He later helped Tony Khan launch AEW as the inaugural World Champion.
Speaking to TMZ’s Inside The Ring, Jericho opened up on working for McMahon in WWE, Eric Bischoff in WCW, and now Khan in AEW. The host pointed to how everyone is arrogant in their own way, then asked Jericho to name the hardest boss to say no to.
Well, you don’t… to get longevity in this business you learn you don’t say no to your boss. You say, ‘Well, how about we try it this way and give an alternative answer to just, ‘No, I’m not doing that.’ Nothing will infuriate your boss more than just saying no,” Jericho said. “I work for somebody that’s paying me money, a lot of money, to do what he wants. Now, Vince used to say, ‘I just booked the s**t, you make it good.’ And sometimes it’s not easy, but that’s the boss.
Jericho continued and referenced his runs in CMLL under Paco Alonso, NJPW’s Masahiro Chono and Riki Choshu, Genichiro Tenryu’s WAR, and the original ECW under Paul Heyman. The Fozzy front-man also provided an answer to the original question.
And sometimes it’s not easy, but that’s the boss. Tony’s the boss, Eric’s the boss, Paco Alonso’s the boss, you know… Chono was the boss, Chosu was the boss, Tenryu was the boss, you name it. Paul Heyman was the boss. Whoever was the boss, it’s my job to make him happy with the work that I’m doing,” Jericho said. “So, there’s no boss that’s easy to say no to, but every good boss you collaborate with, and that’s the secret of being a good general, shall we say? And it’s the secret to being a good boss. Tony’s great to collaborate with, Vince was great to collaborate with. I didn’t really have the opportunity to collaborate with Bischoff much because I was too far down the food chain, and by the time that I felt that I was worthy of that, I was… I was pretty much out the door. So, yeah… you work together to create the best possible match you can.
Jericho also gave insight into just how big of a wrestling fan his current boss is. The former FTW Champion declared Khan to be the biggest wrestling fan he knows.
Tony loves wrestling. If Tony could put on a 12 hour show, and legally be allowed to do it, he would do it. I’m a wrestling fan through and through, that’s why I got into wrestling. That’s why I still love doing it. I’ve never met a bigger wrestling fan than Tony Khan,” Jericho said. “And that’s why, you know… it’s a five-hour show, he loves it. He loves every minute of it. Maybe not every minute of what the results are, but the concept of a five-hour show, if he could do 10, he would, but that… and that’s infectious as well, and I think, when I say we’re all doing this for the right reasons, it’s for the love of the business, and to build something cool, and unique. I think that starts from the top. It starts with Tony, and goes on down from there.
John Morrison recently made similar comments about working for McMahon and Khan. The current Johnny TV believes Tony and Vince are a lot alike, but one has a “good heart.”
