Chris Jericho: AEW Doesn’t Need To Be Built Around Me Anymore
Chris Jericho says AEW’s focus should be on the new generation.
When All Elite Wrestling launched in 2019, Chris Jericho was the key star brought in to attract lapsed wrestling fans who recognised his name from his years with WWE. To that point, the company made him the inaugural AEW World Champion, and, despite rumours he may leave persisting throughout 2025 into 2026, the 55-year-old has remained with the promotion in the seven years that have followed. Now, Jericho has talked about taking a backseat within AEW’s programming.
Speaking with The Wrestling Classic, Chris Jericho said AEW shouldn’t be built around him anymore.
“You’re part of the foundation. You’re an MVP to the brand, but there’s an uprising of all these new stars, like Kevin Knight, the Will Ospreays, guys that are moving up to the next level. Yeah, that’s how the business works. That’s the way it should work is you build stars that can take over for the next generation. You know, the show doesn’t need to be built and shouldn’t be built around Chris Jericho at this point, but I think anything that I do has some merit and people enjoy watching because, you know, it’s been such a long time and, you know, we don’t know how much longer it’s going to be. So, I think people are enjoying it more this round as well,”
-Chris Jericho
Jericho hasn’t competed for the AEW World Championship challenging Jon Moxley for the interim gold in August 2022. Since then, he’s gone on to have two reigns with the ROH World Title, as well as a short run as FTW Champion. Regardless of his place on the card, the star remained a prevalent part of the company’s programming until his year-long absence from our screens which began in April 2025.
Most recently, on the August 12 episode of Dynamite, Jericho lost to TNT Champion Kevin Knight, someone who is part of the next generation of talent many want to see elevated to the next level. As yet, “Y2J” is without a match for this Sunday’s All In: London.
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As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Chris Jericho as soon as we hear more.
H/T to F4WOnline for the transcription.
