Chris Jericho On Vince McMahon's Reaction After He Signed With AEW: "Can You Get Out Of It?"
Recently on Talk Is Jericho, AEW World Champion Chris Jericho welcomed Booker T, Eric Bischoff, 'Diamond' Dallas Page, and Scott Hall to the podcast to discuss the rise and fall of the nWo. During the show, Jericho discussed why he is signed to AEW now and not WWE. Additionally, Jericho shared his thoughts on his most favorable impressions of being in WCW during the rise of the nWo.
Jericho, who recently announced he will be hosting a third Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager At Sea in 2021, claimed that he is with AEW not because he is a rebel, but because WWE Chairman Vince McMahon told him to go. According to 'Le Champion', McMahon later asked Jericho if he could get out of his AEW contract.
"I'm not in AEW because I was a rebel," Jericho admitted. "I'm with AEW because Vince went, 'go.' And then, when I went, he went, 'did you sign the contract?' I said, 'well, yeah.' He said, 'can you get out of it?' 'No! You told me to sign it!'"
Jericho likened his signing with AEW to Hall's decision to leave WWE for WCW back in 1996 insofar as McMahon could have prevented these stars from taking their talents elsewhere.
"But [McMahon] had the opportunity to stop it like he did with [Hall], which is very interesting to me because 23 years later, he made the same [mistake]." Jericho added, "I love Vince."
On the subject of his favorite nWo moment, Jericho shared that watching Hall and Nash helped him learn to have confidence in his abilities and his character.
"To see them jump off the post, I want to be those guys. They are so cool and confident in their own abilities and so confident in who they are as characters, they can do a cannonball into the water, and know that it's going to get them over more," Jericho reflected. "I could do 17 triple double moonsaults and nobody would give a s–t, but those guys could do a cannonball and get a huge pop. That's what [pro] wrestling is. It's show business, right? So it was a great. It was a lot of fun in those days."
Listen to the show here. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.