I’m a recovering Jericoholic and here’s why I am against Chris Jericho’s return to AEW

Hello, my name is Taylor Halley, and I am a recovering Jericoholic.

Chris Jerico is one of my all-time favorite professional wrestlers going all the way back to his days on WCW. I still remember being a kid and being out of my mind when he showed up on Monday Night Raw to confront the Rock. His rivalry with Shawn Michaels is one of my all-time favorite rivalries, and his time with Kevin Owens in WWE and “The List of Jericho” is one of my favorite things in wrestling over the last 10 years.

With all that said though, I am not excited about him being back in AEW.

Don’t get me wrong, without Jericho and Moxley making the jump to AEW, I’m not sure AEW is where they are today. Jericho carried those early days of AEW, and I thought he did a really good job as their inaugural champion. The problem is that AEW has now passed Chris Jericho by, and the reaction he got on Wednesday night really showed that I think.

I just don’t think Jericho has anything left to prove in AEW and I think the fans have moved on from wanting to see him. You can’t call yourself the place where “The Best Wrestle” and then trot out a mid-50s Chris Jericho on a PPV card where the current roster is delivering absolute classic matches monthly on PPV.

The weird part is that I would have been excited for him in WWE. I think he would have been a more compelling character, and the match-ups would have been fresher. I think that character works better in WWE now.

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I look at Jericho the same way I look at Copeland, MVP, Shelton Benjamin, and Bobby Lashley in AEW. It’s just time to move on from these older ex-WWE guys who are just holding on too long. I see guys like John Cena and A.J. Styles retiring and I then see these guys on AEW taking up TV time from younger guys that AEW should be pushing every week, and I just say, “What’s the point?”

I say all this because I do not want to watch Jericho turn into a parody of himself.

His last run in AEW was honestly an abomination and was a major part of a big down period for AEW. AEW right now is operating on full cylinders, and the shows have been must-see since the beginning of the year. I just don’t want Jericho to come in and have matches or segments that bring the show to a screeching halt. The thought of this turning into a Jeff Jarrett situation with AEW was one of the first things I thought of.

I had zero interest in “The last outlaw” going for a title run and I think it’s one of the worst angles AEW has ever done and thankfully they pulled the plug on that. Chris Jericho is not Jeff Jarrett though and he’s going to get a long leash from Tony Khan. Jericho is the king of reinvention, so if anyone can make this work, it’s him, but the kick-off Wednesday night was less than stellar and the crowd reaction in his home country was less than encouraging. Those 10 minutes were a tough watch and I just wanted him to get out of the ring from the secondhand embarrassment.

I have no idea who they are going to have him get involved with to kick off this new run, but they better make it count because the patience of AEW fans is wearing thin for the Ayatollah of Rock-n-Rolla.

https://www.youtube.com/live/B5znUU8QIuM?si=r3lZFpqiWnaSLHZv