Chris Jericho Reveals Things AEW Pays For That WWE Never Did

Chris Jericho knows what it is like to be a WWE Superstar. That lifestyle is always on the go, and the company tells you where you need to be. The cost of that travel is on the Superstars. This is what blew Kristine Leahy’s mind on Fair Game when Bayley revealed that they aren’t in a union.

Jericho went into detail about the difference between AEW and WWE on his Talk Is Jericho podcast. He explained that AEW pays for travel, something that WWE never did. AEW views their company like a sports team, and that is what happens in that world.

“Right off the bat, not to get into the specifics, but things that I have here in AEW I never had in WWE for 20 years. Even something as simple as paying your expenses on the road, like any team does. If the Jaguars go to play a game in St. Louis, the hotel is paid for and ‘Here’s the trip,’ and ‘Here’s the team bus to pick you up and drive you around.’ That’s just the way it is. It’s not even a second thought, right? That’s how it is here in AEW as well, which it’s never like that in WWE.”

“They still go with, ‘Here’s your plane ticket. You’re flying to Detroit. You’re working Detroit, Chicago, Cape Girardeau and St. Louis.’ So you rent your car in Detroit, you drop it off in St. Louis. You got to find your hotel rooms, you got to get a car that’s got a good rate for the drop-off. All this stuff. And those are your expenses and your responsibility to do that. And that’s another thing that I think people are just like, ‘Alright, are you kidding me? You really have to do that?’ So that’s the biggest difference.”

WWE Superstars must keep track of all their expenses for tax time deductions. They are independent contractors and have to pay for everything on their own. Chris Jericho was used to living that lifestyle, but it’s not that way in AEW. It doesn’t sound like he misses having to worry about all those travel costs either.

Thanks to 411 Mania for the quote