AEW superstar Chris Jericho recently spoke witH Yahoo Sports to hype tonight’s one year anniversary of the promotion’s weekly program, Dynamite on TNT. Highlights from the interview can be found below.
How he chose AEW to make a difference:
I wanted to make a difference. I knew where I’d be slotted and what I’d be doing if I went back to WWE. It’s just the way it is there. I knew if I came to AEW, much like I did in New Japan when I went there, that I could do some good business, I could really change the way that the industry is, for the better.
Says he was the flag bearer for AEW:
I’m a big part of the success of this company and I feel like it’s my company as a result, I’m not working for a machine. I loved working for WWE, but I feel like I am AEW. When we first started it rested on my shoulders in a lot of ways, and thankfully we did what we were supposed to do and it rests on a lot of people’s shoulders. That original task was mine and mine alone, I was kind of the flag bearer for the company so it’s been very cool to see the success.
How AEW is not worried about what NXT is doing:
We didn’t start a war or a battle, we are just worried about our own stuff. We don’t care what WWE or NXT does. Obviously we love beating them in the ratings every week, to the point where it’s almost embarrassing at this point, but we’re not obsessed with it. Twenty years ago there’d be a party if WCW’s pyro went off before WWE’s. Every moment was so intense, every segment of the show had to be mapped out to beat WWE. We’re not like that, we don’t know what NXT is doing and we’re worried about our own show and our own business and I think that’s why we’ve been so successful.
Talks regaining his passion for the wrestling business:
I’ve never lost my passion in AEW. I did in WWE a couple of times and that’s when working with Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Sami Zayn, Roman Reigns and Cesaro and those types of guys helped reignite the passion. AEW has been nothing but passion. It’s been nothing but us trying to make it great. If you see how I run my matches, I’m doing everything that I can for everybody. Does it affect me? No, it never affects me, but it gives people the ‘rub’ and makes them into bigger stars. That’s the idea.
