Chris Jericho on the Key Difference Between WWE and AEW Operations, Why He Won’t Go Anywhere Else Again

Chris Jericho has been perhaps AEW’s most vocal advocate amongst the talent, and he talked about the key difference between AEW’s business structure versus WWE’s while speaking with Andrew Yang. Yang was a guest on Jericho’s Talk is Jericho and they talked about Yang’s vocal criticism of how WWE classifies its talent as independent contractors. Yang asked Jericho what how it is in AEW, and Jericho laid out what he saw as the big difference between them on a corporate structural level. You can check out highlights and the full audio below:

On the key difference he sees between AEW and WWE’s operations: “Well, I think the biggest difference is kind of what we’ve been talking about this whole conversation. It’s that WWE treats the business as a wrestling business because that’s what it’s been for 60 years, from Vince’s father and Vince’s grandfather, almost from the old school carny attitude. And you can see that with you know, the independent contractor [aspect] for example. It’s not right, but it’s just the way it is, like I explained.

“AEW treats things from a sports team perspective. The Khan family owns the Jacksonville Jaguars, they own Fulham Football Club in England. So they treat the company like they treat their football team. And that’s a whole different vibe as how the talent, the athletes, the performers get treated.”

On the benefits he has in WWE he didn’t get in AEW: “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.”

On AEW earning his loyalty: “To me, it’s one of those things where I’m really glad that we were able to take a chance, and get this company off the ground and make it successful. And I have no intentions of ever going anywhere ever again. I like it here, I like working for the Khan family. And it’s been a lot of fun. Which sometimes, it was not as fun in WWE. So it’s definitely a whole different vibe here.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Talk is Jericho with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.