Chris Jericho is a true veteran in the pro wrestling world as he has competed all over the world in various promotions, including WWE. The current state of WWE isn’t all that well as it continues to see a fall in ratings and many fans are simply tired of the product.
While speaking on Busted Open Radio, Chris Jericho used Darby Allin as an example of a talent that AEW helped make a star. He then addressed WWE’s fall in ratings, stating that the company’s inability to make stars is the reason why ratings continue to fall.
Jericho would also go on to name several other AEW talents that have gotten a lot of development and been elevated in the company.
“Our goal from the start was to make new stars. Because that’s what wrestling’s all about. It always has been. If you look at last week’s show, where we had Jungle Boy vs. Darby Allin in the main event, we had Shida vs. Tay Conti in a main event. Those are two kinds of fence post matches on our show and they both did a great number.
“We’ve made Darby Allin into a legit main event draw. I mean last night he’s in the main event with Ten for God’s sake and it will probably do a good number. I give us a full Barry Horowitz pat on the back for that because we set out to do it and we did it. It’s not hard to do; pick the right guy and just stick with them. We paired Darby with Sting, so he got that rub. And now Sting is almost, I’m not going to say lackey, but he’s almost Darby’s second at this point. And that’s probably exactly what he should be.
“If you look at what we’ve done with Jericho, MJF, Sammy Guevara, Santana and Ortiz, Wardlow, that’s another aspect. We are building these guys and girls because it just can’t be Jericho vs. Cody, vs. Kenny over and over again. Nor would we want it to be.
“When Vince goes to the investors (during the conference call) and says ‘the Raw ratings are down because we haven’t created any new stars, that’s completely on you guys! We (AEW) knew from the start we had to make stars. A lot of the guys on our show, Bucks, and Kenny included, Hangman Page; I said it on the Broken Skull Sessions, they weren’t known on a national level. On a national network television level. We’ve built them up, and then suddenly all these kinds of the second wave of guys and girls are getting in there.”
Many fans would agree WWE needs a shot in the arm and create fresh stars if they want to improve its product. We will have to see if the company will decide to do that eventually.
h/t to Wrestle Talk for the quotes.