10 Major AEW Stars Who Publicly Savaged The Company

9. Chris Jericho

Jericho Honeymoon Thumb
AEW

Chris Jericho prides himself on having his finger on the pulse of pro wrestling, and he's right, even if it sometimes takes him a few months to cup his hear to the crowd.

People were prepared to write him off last year. They'll simply never learn.

After a babyface run that was hotter in the arena than online, it must be said - the white-hot crowd at All Out clearly weren't over singing Judas - Jericho's terrible "GFY" patter was untenably sh*tty, and his programme with Eddie Kingston failed to spark into life until he teased another turn. As 'The Wizard', he's back to another unique version of his best self: the incorrigibe, catchphrase-friendly jackass.

Jericho was also the first man to articulate AEW's first period of malaise deep into 2019. Guesting on Konnan's Keepin' It 100 podcast in December - before the infamous events of the 18th - he recalled how, as locker room leader, he took the initiative of calling a meeting to resolve growing complaints surrounding the tag team division. He concluded his rant by putting over the Lucha Bros. for adapting to North American mainstream TV and as an "amazing" duo, but also blasted them for being "lazy" as it pertained to following the rules and using the rope. Jericho, concerned about the fate of company he had put on his back, warned that "the honeymoon period" was "over".

It certainly was...

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!