AEW's Jeff Jarrett Explains Why AAA Fans Prefer Ex-WWE Star Alberto Del Rio To Vikingo

AEW's Jeff Jarrett has detailed why AAA fans want WWE and TKO to bring back Alberto Del Rio to the company over the current AAA Mega Champion, El Hijo del Vikingo.

Vikingo defeated Del Rio to become the champion in May, and since then, AAA fans have sided with Del Rio, booing Vikingo, which was evident at Triplemania earlier this month. Jarrett, on his "My World" podcast, explained that Del Rio is loved by the fans because they have a greater emotional connection with him over Vikingo.

"I mean, if you want to put a Lucha Libre talent that can have ... he's [Vikingo] the Will Ospreay. He's five-star plus every time he goes out," said Jarrett about Vikingo, before discussing about Del Rio. "I mean, if this isn't the perfect example of charisma [Del Rio] over in-ring ability [Vikingo]. I mean, to me, the people want to be emotionally attached. They know the story. They know the character. There's no doubt in my mind that, as much as glitz and glamour and the numbers resulted in it, and it's the new version, it's the WWE version of AAA, there is a patriotic pride that goes with Alberto at its very core level. He's a 'kid' from San Luis Potosi that is second-generation, that knows how to talk, knows how to work. He will bust your ass, he's aggressive, he's a fighter, but most importantly, Conrad, he knows how to connect with the audience at a really, really deep level from a real passionate fan base. And he's a passionate guy."

Jarrett said he was surprised that others were shocked by the fan reaction of preferring Del Rio over Vikingo, questioning why fans need to be emotionally invested in the AAA Mega Champion.

"Why would people be emotionally — what has Vikingo done in his entire career to create emotional connection?" asked Jarrett.

Del Rio isn't in the good books of many fans due to his past indiscretions, but Jarrett believes that fans are forgiving in nature and only care whether a star can entertain them.