Felix Upton on May 3, 2021
Vince McMahon and Tony Khan both approved for Chris Jericho to do an interview with Steve Austin for the Broken Skull Sessions. That was a big deal for the pro wrestling world as a contracted AEW star made an appearance on WWE programming. Le Champion doesn’t know if McMahon would do that again.
One week after Jericho spoke openly about AEW on a WWE program, the company pulled in 1.2 million viewers for Dynamite. This was the first week without WWE NXT competition, but viewership has fallen since then.
While speaking to TV Insider, Chris Jericho was asked if more appearances could happen for him on WWE programming. The Million Viewer Man admitted that the situation was unique with perfect timing. He also expressed doubt that McMahon would allow his programming to become a vehicle to promote AEW again.
It was lightning in a bottle sort of thing with [respective company heads] Vince McMahon and Tony Khan giving their approval. I think it was also well-timed. The Peacock relationship with WWE was just starting. They wanted something huge out of the gate. It was perfect for us considering AEW had its first unopposed show [without NXT].”
“Once that big Dynamite rating came in though, I think Vince may have had a little bit of second-guessing. Would they do it again? Maybe. I don’t know if you can find anyone with respect and goodwill on both sides that would allow that. If they don’t do it again, it was one of the coolest moments in wrestling history.
Many fans were shocked that Chris Jericho was allowed to take part in that interview. Steve Austin and Jericho talked about far more than just AEW, but All Elite Wrestling certainly received a huge focus which could have also been seen as an endorsement for some fans.
May 3, 2021 12:05 pm
Disqus Comments Loading...
