Chris Jericho has had no shortage of options throughout his career, but when it came time to decide his future, he chose to stick with AEW — and he explained exactly why.
Jericho, who has wrestled for WWE, WCW, ECW, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and CMLL over the course of his career, pointed to one key distinction that sets AEW apart from every other stop he’s made: it’s the only major promotion he actually helped build from the ground up.
Why AEW Is Different
Speaking to SHAK Wrestling, Jericho made clear that his history as a co-founder carries real weight in his decision-making. He said that while he always considers what’s out there, having helped start AEW gives him a stake in the game — and there’s something special about that kind of ownership that a paycheck alone can’t replicate.
You know, once again, I mean, you weigh your options, but I helped start AEW. I have a stake in the game. And that’s… there’s something special about that.”
“I didn’t help start WWE. I didn’t help start New Japan Pro Wrestling or CMLL or ECW or WCW or any of those places that I worked in the past. I helped start AEW.
It’s worth remembering just how far AEW has come to get to this point. Back in 2019, plenty of skeptics predicted the fledgling promotion would fail to gain traction against WWE’s dominance.
Six years later, AEW is still standing — and for Jericho, that journey and his role in it appear to be central to why he’s not going anywhere.
So, it was a big risk for me to go there. If you remember, there was no guarantees. There were people that said we were going to be out of business in three or four months or six months. And here we are six years later and it’s gone the opposite direction. We’ve become a viable top-level wrestling company with millions of fans.
Building His Legacy
Chris Jericho said joining AEW was a meaningful risk that he is proud to have taken. He believed that if the company succeeded, helping establish it from the beginning would become an important part of his legacy.
Looking back, Jericho said he takes pride in having played a role in getting AEW off the ground and contributing to its early success.
So, that to me was something that meant something. And it’s something I take great pride in because, once again, it was a real risk to go there, but I knew if the company took off and became successful, it would be another kind of feather in the Chris Jericho legacy cap.”
“So, that’s kind of what I always was thinking, was I’m really happy to be in the company that I had some skin in the game and helped kind of get rolling.
