Chris Jericho Says That AEW Is Not Looking To Hire Anyone Else Right Now
Since winning the AEW World Championship at All Out, Chris Jericho has done a number of promotional tours for the company. "Le Champion" is not one to exaggerate in his interviews when talking about the growth AEW has had since forming. That includes the creative process.
Speaking with ScreenGeek, Jericho talked about the booking of AEW. One of the main ideas of the organization when it first started was to be less scripted and more open when it came to promos and talent input. A veteran of the business, Jericho has been able to utilize that opportunity.
"There's kind of an infrastructure, you've heard of the EVP's, Cody, and obviously Tony Khan is the boss. So there's a little bit of a committee, I guess you'd say," Jericho stated. "But, for me, I pretty much write all my own stuff. That's not to say I'm not gonna take suggestions, but definitely when it comes to a final approval, and not from a dickish standpoint, from knowing what's gonna work and what's not gonna work after doing this for 29 years. So, it's going to be interesting. It's great to be able to book a show and then have two months til the next one, which has been our schedule. But now, you have every week. Wednesday after Wednesday after Wednesday."
From 1999 to 2018, Jericho consistently appeared on WWE programming. During his time there, stories of how promos were written and people were booked were the stuff of legend. Jon Moxley even talked about it on Jericho's podcast. Jericho compared the two programs and how different it can be for the younger talent in AEW.
"When I was in the WWE, I used to say to those guys all the time, 'How do you this week after week, 7 hours of TV, 8 hours of TV? How do you do it?'. And I think it's something? Live TV is a different animal" Jericho continued. "I have a lot of experience in it, as do some other guys, Moxley, Cody, and Dustin. Other than that, you've got a group of guys that have never been on live TV before. It's a whole different world. They'll adapt, they'll get it. But, that's just not in the ring, but outside as well. I think there's going to have to be a little bit more of a booker standpoint, but we'll see. It's all uncharted water for everybody, which makes it so exciting."
Jericho's resume is extremely impressive. He has won the WCW Cruiserweight Title, WWE Intercontinental Title nine times, was the first Undisputed Champion, he recently went to New Japan and won the IWGP Intercontentinal Title and is now the first AEW Champion. As a guy who has done it all in WWE, Jericho said signing with AEW was an opportunity to grow outside of the company where he spent the majority of his career.
"Well, like I said, this is a challenge. In a good way," Jericho went on to say. "And that's one of the reasons why I'm here [in AEW]. I could have went back to the WWE and stayed there until the sunset years, coming out to wave to the crowd. But, I didn't want that. I've always reinvented myself and evolved, and I thought, 'What's left for me?'. I went to Japan, conquered that world, again.
"So, going to a new company that had never had a show before, that had the three things I felt it needed to have for a legit competitive alternate to WWE: A, money, which the Khans have, and passion. B, you need to have a TV deal, which we got with TNT. And C, the reason we got the TV deal is we needed to have 6-8 legitimate main event superstars that are fresh. We have that. You've got Moxley and Jericho, who reinvented themselves. Then you've got Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, Kenny Omega, Cody, Hangman Page, MJF. You can build a whole company around those guys. I have matches for the next 2 years just with those guys and the guys that are on the roster currently."
Every time someone is available on the pro wrestling market, it is assumed AEW will pick them up. As the new land of opportunity, AEW could very well be a place where rising talent gets their opportunity to shine. Jericho, however, is waiting for the right talent.
"We're not looking to hire anybody else right now," said Jericho. If someone comes along that makes sense, we will, but we have so much talent that people don't even know, they don't even know the Young Bucks yet! That's what I'm saying, you have to understand, this is our first show, you can't assume that everyone knows who these guys are. I haven't been on TV for two years. What's the first line I ever said on AEW TV? 'My name is Chris Jericho, and I am the champion of AEW'. That pretty much tells the tale. 'Oh, who is that guy? Oh, he's the champion?' Boom. Done. It's like a good movie poster that tells you what it is."
Regarding talent, AEW has managed to groom young stars to look like mega-stars. Private Party, Darby Allin and MJF are just a few names AEW has at their disposal. Jericho sees that as a huge opportunity for the company, and the talent.
"I think it's really important to establish who these guys are, so that when people see them they'll freak out as to why they've never heard of them before and just how good they are because they've been doing this for years and chose NOT to go to WWE," Jericho went on to say. "The secret to AEW is that we all have passion to be here because we want to be."
You can read the full interview at ScreenGeek by clicking here.