With Cody Rhodes already gone, recent talk of fellow founders Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks possibly leaving AEW when their contracts are up might make you wonder about the status of the biggest name present at the company’s launch announcement back in 2019 — Chris Jericho.
AEW’s first World champion recently spoke to UK tabloid The Daily Star, and put the kibosh on any speculation about his future.
Asked if he thinks AEW is where his legendary career will eventually end, Jericho responded:
“I don’t see why it wouldn’t be. I don’t hold a torch for WWE. To me, that’s not ‘the place to be’. AEW is the place to be. It really is.”
The 52 year old said there’s no hard feelings between himself and the wrestling company he exclusively worked for for most of this century:
“I’ve been in WWE. I know how it works. They work that way, I don’t care if Vince is there, Hunter is there, or whoever is there. They have a way of doing things, and I was there for 20 years and was pretty good at it. I like the way we do things at AEW better… so I don’t know why I wouldn’t want to finish my career in AEW.
“I never thought that I wouldn’t finish my career with WWE, but things happened, and I was just like ‘I want to go to Japan and do this match [with NJPW]’ and it opened up a whole new world for me. It was like ‘oh my gosh, this is the fun side of wrestling again!
“Business is business and there’s always ups and downs, but I have zero interest in ever going back to WWE. That’s not out of bitterness or anger. I love Vince and I love Hunter and all the people there.
“But I just really dig AEW, and I have a stake in the game. I came here right out of the gate – I was the guy. Besides Jim Ross, there was nobody that had really been on television on a national basis other than me. I take great pride in that. I started here, why would I want to walk away? There’s so much more that we can do. The sense of accomplishment is massive.”
Jericho also told Daily Star, “There’s a lot of stuff I do backstage at AEW,” but helping other talent out with interviews and promos is his favorite thing to do. But he still enjoys all of it, and hasn’t really thought about what he’ll focus on when his in-ring career ends.
As for his run as a full-time performer, Jericho says he still wants to be World champ again (“If you don’t, you shouldn’t be in the business.”) but he “probably” doesn’t need that.
“I don’t really need a belt to be in the main event so as long as I can continue to tell stories that help grow the show, the talent and me… I just think that I’m really happy with what we’re doing.
“My biggest goal is to see us continue to build this amazing universe.”
Sounds like he has the rest of his career to make that happen.
