{"id":128343,"date":"2024-11-17T08:43:45","date_gmt":"2024-11-17T13:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=128343"},"modified":"2024-11-17T08:43:45","modified_gmt":"2024-11-17T13:43:45","slug":"chris-jericho-elevated-aew-wrestlers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/11\/17\/chris-jericho-elevated-aew-wrestlers\/","title":{"rendered":"How and When Chris Jericho Elevated AEW Wrestlers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Name Recognition <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

When Chris Jericho was Le Champion <\/span>and<\/span> AEW was brand new, it would be silly to suggest that Jericho\u2019s name recognition did not aid the fledgling company. As I\u2019ve written recently in <\/span>3 <\/span>Ways<\/span> Chris Jericho Got AEW\u2019s Key Principles Over<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Jericho<\/span> more than The Elite, became the face\/flagbearer of AEW for the masses.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>My job is to just kinda stand obviously in the forefront because of just the name value and the legacy that I have, but the bottom line is always to make sure that those guys continue to grow and get ahead and <\/span>most<\/span> importantly<\/span> get confidence. <\/span>When you get confidence in this business, you get great<\/span>, <\/span>and <\/span>you<\/span> can handle any situation<\/span><\/em>.\u201d<\/span> Chris Jericho, AEW Unrestricted, Transcript from <\/span>WrestleInc<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

His character clearly defined the company\u2019s ethos and established the various top indy stars and new up-and-comers, particularly as the heel sports-entertainment threat to AEW\u2019s promise of something different. <\/span><\/p>\n

Jericho\u2019s title defenses against Scorpio Sky, Darby Allin, and Jack Perry signaled that these men were future headliners. In the case of all three, their early booking led to all three eventually becoming champions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Likewise, those associated with Jericho, like The Inner Circle<\/span>, benefitted greatly<\/span>.<\/span> \u201cLe Sex Gods\u201d helped make Sammy Guevara a pillar. Guevara\u2019s vlog and ad-break card gimmick seemed Jericho-esque in how the young man tried to maximize his minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even when Le Champion was not the champion, Jericho still could spotlight undercard wrestlers who required more work. One of my favorite undercard Pandemic Dynamite matches was Chris Jericho vs. Isiah Kassidy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Before this match, my opinion of Kassidy was low. His efforts against Jericho convinced me Kassidy, not Marq <\/span>Quen<\/span> would be the breakout singles star.<\/span><\/p>\n

Photocopying a Photocopy <\/strong><\/h3>\n

The problem long-term, is that the formula and those things Jericho did to establish AEW and its principles are being repeated five years later.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pattern became obvious with the strings of the magic trick visible. Undercard guys would wrestle Jericho in a one-off match. There might be some one-week story reasoning. <\/span><\/p>\n

Usually<\/span> exemplifying Jericho\u2019s opponents\u2019 unique wrestling\/character strengths. Feuds with mid-to-upper carders needing elevating would wrestle Jericho in a series of matches, usually winning the series 2-1. Unique builds would become over time homogeneous.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s like photocopying a photocopy. The quality <\/span>is reduced<\/span> each time. Think Adam Cole, Eddie Kingston, HOOK. Worse, over <\/span>time<\/span> the logic within these feuds rotted away to fulfill the formula. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ricky Starks ran an unnecessary gauntlet through The Jericho Appreciation Society (JAS) to face <\/span>Jericho,<\/span> despite already pinning him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over time <\/span>it\u2019s<\/span> detracted from Jericho and his opponents\u2019 credibility<\/span>, as well as<\/span> AEW\u2019s for throwing away logic for tropes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Take the most recent casualty of the vortex, Mark Briscoe. While giving Jericho the ROH World Championship might <\/span>be beneficial for<\/span> TV rights negotiations, the feud with Jericho and the latter\u2019s victory have taken two things away from Briscoe.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the long term, the heat of evoking Jay Briscoe\u2019s name has been made less impactful.\u00a0 <\/span>Short-term, Briscoe\u2019s babyface credibility.<\/span> The deceptively intelligent chicken farmer openly admitted falling for the same trick twice.<\/span><\/p>\n

AEW\u2019s storytelling credibility is likewise damaged. Briscoe\u2019s Conglomerate stablemate, Tomohiro <\/span>Ishi<\/span> instead of stopping Big Bill\u2019s interference, waited until after the match to challenge Jericho for the championship. <\/span><\/p>\n

How close are these \u201cfriends\u201d? Also, why are The Death Riders allowing this sports-entertainment buffoonery? Isn\u2019t this part of their issue with what AEW has become?<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond The Learning Tree \u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201c<\/span>You want to feature them as much as possible. That\u2019s one of the things critics would say, \u2018Oh, Jericho\u2019s selfish and blah blah blah,\u2019 but that\u2019s how you get fans to understand who these guys are. <\/span>I did it with Danny Garcia, <\/span>I did it with<\/span> Sammy Guevara, <\/span>I did it with<\/span> MJF, <\/span>I did it with<\/span> Orange Cassidy.<\/span> \u2018Who are these guys?\u2019 And then you work with them <\/span>and<\/span> then<\/span> people get more comfortable with who they are<\/span><\/em>.\u201d Chris Jericho, AEW Unrestricted, Transcript from <\/span>WrestleInc<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Success after teaming up or facing Jericho is not guaranteed. And it\u2019s not Jericho\u2019s fault. Creative <\/span>as<\/span> well as the wrestlers <\/span>themselves<\/span> should take most of the blame.<\/span><\/p>\n

Being near Jericho put Sammy Guevara on fans’ radars. <\/span>Yet controversy outside <\/span>of<\/span> the ring<\/span>, along with<\/span> Guevara\u2019s messy TNT champion <\/span>runs<\/span> reduced his status.<\/span> Creative leaned into the heat Guevara had with fans for dating Tay Conti. Both characters were reduced to a couple obsessed with playing tonsil hockey.<\/span><\/p>\n

When <\/span>put with<\/span> The JAS, their gimmick did not change. Neither <\/span>were<\/span> given opportunities to do or be more.<\/span> Yet <\/span>arguably<\/span>, did Guevara try, like he had at the start of his run, to do anything differently?<\/span><\/p>\n

Daniel Garcia benefitted massively from The JAS. Garcia developed a character and<\/span> got a dance and a \u201cyou\u2019re a wrestler\u201d chant over. The potential turning of Garcia on Jericho was one of the most anticipated angles in 2023. <\/span><\/p>\n

It was wasted<\/span> because nothing happened<\/span>. <\/span>Garcia\u2019s momentum <\/span>became<\/span> hindered.<\/span> Ironically, Garcia needed that match with Jericho <\/span>and<\/span> fans wanted it. Instead, Jericho pivoted to Will Ospreay, only feeding into the \u201cclout vampire\u201d accusations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Branching Out<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As time goes on, those who benefit most from working with Jericho are not opponents but those allied with Jericho who are given the opportunity to develop characters that engage with the audience.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDaddy Magic\u201d Matt Menard and \u201cCool Hand\u201d Angelo Parker already had given fans a taste of their abilities as nuisance jobbers. Yet alongside The JAS, Angelo\u2019s declarations to the AEW Galaxy, alongside his <\/span>amazing<\/span> hair and Daddy Magic\u2019s hard nipples, made them fixtures.<\/span><\/p>\n

Post-JAS, both found consistent roles on the card in supporting roles. Parker was entangled weekly in one of wrestling\u2019s strange <\/span>distortions of a love story<\/span><\/a> on Rampage. Menard as Garcia\u2019s cornerman\/mentor\/father figure and commentator has helped build other wrestlers\u2019 stories.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bryan Keith could easily have <\/span>been lost<\/span> in the shuffle after signing with AEW<\/span>. Adrift<\/span> without a storyline, clear character, or motivations like plenty of AEW\u2019s midcard. Whilst my enjoyment of The Learning Tree is begrudging, <\/span><\/p>\n

Keith has a role on the show. <\/span>And<\/span> angrily telling everyone to respect Chris Jericho <\/span>at times<\/span> pops me.<\/span> While still a pin-eater, the bad apple is more well-rounded because of the minutes <\/span>he\u2019s been<\/span> given alongside Jericho.<\/span><\/p>\n

Big Bill didn\u2019t need Jericho, but he needed something. As an AEW World Tag Champion, Bill had already beaten Jericho. <\/span>However<\/span>, by embracing his Learning Tree role<\/span>, Big Bill has gone the extra time.<\/span><\/p>\n

His social media life lessons are a joy to watch. Displaying more comic range and making the sports entertainment nonsense digestible and funny has made fans clamber for the wrestler Tony Schiavone labeled \u201ctoo much man<\/span>\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ironically, by making fans want Big Bill to turn on Jericho, they have only aided fan\u2019s investment in his character.<\/span><\/p>\n

Are They Listening?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ultimately, Jericho\u2019s effectiveness in elevating new talent has been mythologized by the man himself as a parody. At five years old, with its future secure, AEW does not need Jericho in the role of elevator\/gatekeeper. <\/span><\/p>\n

Jericho is responsible for his own lack of reinvention<\/span>. Especially<\/span> given the change in the wrestling landscape that\u2019s meant sports entertainment has not carried the same heat in AEW after <\/span>Vince McMahon\u2019s departure from WWE<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, AEW Creative and Tony Khan need to move on from this one example of many where an over<\/span>reliance on tropes and formulas to compensate for storytelling<\/span><\/a> hurts the logic that made AEW distinct from WWE. <\/span><\/p>\n

And while I and many other fans feel like broken records stating the same things about AEW\u2019s booking of Chris Jericho, as I did in my <\/span>first article for the site last year<\/span><\/a>, it highlights a significant failure on AEW\u2019s part as the \u201clistening\u201d company.<\/span><\/p>\n

More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/h3>\n

Header photo \u2013\u00a0AEW\u00a0\u2013 Stay tun<\/em>ed to the\u00a0Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world. As well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.\u00a0 You can catch AEW Dynamite on Wednesday nights at 8 PM ET on TBS. AEW Rampage airs on TNT at 10 PM EST every Friday night. AEW Collision airs Saturday at 8pm Eastern on TNT. More AEW content available on their\u00a0YouTube<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Name Recognition When Chris Jericho was Le Champion and AEW was brand new, it would be silly to suggest that Jericho\u2019s name recognition did not aid the fledgling company. As I\u2019ve written recently in 3 Ways Chris Jericho Got AEW\u2019s Key Principles Over, Jericho more than The Elite, became the face\/flagbearer of AEW for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4960,"featured_media":128346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4677,2192],"tags":[107,3657,3962],"class_list":["post-128343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aew","category-wrestling","tag-chris-jericho","tag-daniel-garcia","tag-sammy-guervara"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4960"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}