Tommy Dreamer & Bully Ray Discuss AEW Dynamite's Jericho Appreciation Society Fallout

The Jericho Appreciation Society officially disbanded on Wednesday's "AEW Dynamite" when Matt Menard, Daniel Garcia, Jake Hager, Angelo Parker, Matt Menard, Anna Jay, Sammy Guevara, and Tay Melo all detailed their exact reasons for leaving the Chris Jericho-led stable. 

On the latest "Busted Open," Bully Ray and Tommy Dreamer chimed in with their thoughts on the dissolution of JAS. In his assessment, Dreamer hoped that the break-up angle was "a swerve" so JAS could reunite and go into war against Don Callis and his Family.  

"I enjoyed the segment," Dreamer said. "I have enjoyed everything that Jericho Appreciation Society has brought to the table — that's also because I know Chris is a stickler for detail, and if you think about it, he gave AEW validity when he walked up to that podium. The guy has continued to crush it each and every week, and he has gotten over not one but two groups. He'll get anything over. He got his cruise over. That's Chris Jericho."

Meanwhile, Ray echoed Dreamer's thoughts about the JAS break-up angle possibly being a swerve, suggesting that the rest of JAS still needed Jericho to remain relevant on AEW TV.

"Whenever Jericho is not with the JAS, they are lost puppies," Ray said. "They don't know where they are. They are all younger, but they need Jericho there to help them, to continue to guide them. The only one I think could truly survive on his own is Sammy because we've seen him get over without Chris around."

Ray noted that while he "enjoyed" the JAS break-up segment, he did not like "the placement" of it on the show, arguing that The Hardys vs. The Young Bucks match should have opened the night instead of an elaborate promo segment. "There wasn't that big match feel, there was something missing in the arena," Ray said. "I wonder if the JAS segment just drew people down a little bit where they found it difficult to get up for The Hardys and The Bucks." 

As the "Busted Open" crew further reviewed the show, Dreamer gave props to his old ECW rival Rob Van Dam for still performing at a high level at the age of 52. 

"I truly loved the match," Dreamer admitted. "I loved seeing Van Dam out there — that guy singlehandedly changed the wrestling industry. And, he does get enough credit for what he did, but you may never see that ever again. 

"If I'm Rob Van Dam, I'm super duper proud to say that was my last match — and I know it's not going to be. I'd love to see a rematch, don't know if it's going to happen, but I thought Rob did a great piece of business for both himself and Jack Perry."

Finally, Ray was critical of the build-up to Anna Jay vs. AEW Women's World Champion Hikaru Shida title match, arguing that AEW should have set up the main event with a backstage segment. "Give me a little backstage animosity for 30 seconds where Ana says something to Shida and Shida takes exception. Anything — as opposed to an advertised title match that nobody has any idea why it's happening in the first place."