wrestling / News

Chris Jericho Says AEW Isn’t Trying To Beat The WWE

January 17, 2019 | Posted by Joseph Lee
Chris jericho NJPW Road to Tokyo Dome Image Credit: NJPW

In the latest episode of Talk is Jericho (via Wrestling Inc), Chris Jericho spoke about the mindset of everyone in All Elite Wrestling and if they are trying to compete with the WWE. Here are highlights:

On originally learning about Tony Khan’s desire to start a promotion: “Who knows would could possibly happen. I’m not gonna work there, but maybe I could use it for negotiations or give some advice. Because at the time I also called the family that owned Impact Wrestling and told them to hire Scott D’Amore and Don Callis and get out of the business…not because I wanted to go to Impact, but because I wanted the business to continue to thrive.”

On his flight after All In: “I did the match [at All In] and then flew back to Kansas City to do the Fozzy gig at night on a private plane which was provided by Tony Khan. That’s something I never told anybody before – Tony Khan provided that jet.”

On meeting Khan: “That’s when I realized, this guy really wants to do this. Does he have any previous experience running a wrestling company? No. Did the last two presidents of the United States have any experience in politics? No. But what all three of them had is passion and experience with business. They have a lot of elements and lot of acumen when it comes to running big businesses involved with athletics and entertainment.”

On the original offer from AEW: “The original offer that came in blew my mind… What? This is a real, almost like NHL-level offer which I’d never gotten before. But I also know that with the money WWE has, they could probably match it if they wanted to.”

On questioning a return to WWE: “Do I really want to go back to WWE? If I go back, what am I going to be doing there? What kind of an angle would I have? How high up on the card would I be?”

On if AEW can beat WWE: “WWE is the biggest wrestling company in the world – you’re not going to beat it! We don’t want to beat the WWE. We’re not planning on that. That’s not the mindset of AEW. The mindset is to provide an option, an alternative for wrestling fans. It’s something you haven’t seen before and haven’t seen in a while.”

On global expansion: “We could be going worldwide. We’ve already had inquiries from Australia, Germany, the UK. The Khan Family is based in London – you don’t think we’ll be in London working? You don’t think we’ll be back in Japan? Going to Germany? Australia? New Zealand? There’s a lot of places for us to go and I’m excited.”

article topics :

AEW, Chris Jericho, Joseph Lee