Chris Jericho remains one of the most respected veterans in the world of professional wrestling, being an active star for more than 30 years already. He was a big name in WWE but now Jericho admitted to feeling discontent at not being ‘the guy’ in the company.
Le Champion saw a lot of success in WWE, becoming the first-ever undisputed champion in the company’s history, as well as winning numerous World Titles during his time in WWE.
That said, WWE never viewed him as the definitive top guy. While speaking on the Insight podcast this week, Chris Jericho was asked if he realized the impact his signing with AEW would have. Jericho admitted that he did see it coming and then expressed his discontent at not being ‘the guy’ in the WWE.
“The short answer to that is yes, I knew the value that I had. Which is one of the reasons why I really wanted to do it. It’s been well-documented that my last run in WWE, even though it was super popular and super over, was still not a main-event program. And in my opinion, it should have been and it was, at least from the fan interest and the reactions and stuff. So I remember thinking I could stay in WWE for as long as I want and just be a guy here because that’s basically [all that was left.] I sort of felt like I did when I left WCW where I had this great storyline with Goldberg but I knew it was never going to get me any higher so I had to go somewhere else which was WWF at the time.
Same thing with WWE, I could do more in WWE. I could do more than the second match on the show. So I went to New Japan and headlined the Tokyo Dome three years in a row. First Tokyo Dome was around the time Tony started talking about AEW and I thought I can stay in WWE and be a guy or I can be THE GUY, which I’ve never been in WWE.”
Chris Jericho also believes everybody in AEW needs to work under Vince McMahon for six months. Regardless, The Ocho is more than happy working in AEW right now and that’s all that matters to him.
What’s your opinion on this story? Do you feel WWE should have done more with Chris Jericho? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!