10 Worst Moments In AEW History

3. Chris Jericho, And The Reaction At Worlds End

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Over the 2023 holiday season, on Twitter, Chris Jericho got into a slanging match with Stephen P. New: a lawyer who buys commercial space on Jim Cornette’s podcast. Chris claimed, as Brawl Out surfaced yet again on Twitter, that he’d never signed an NDA in his life. 

Then, journalist Nick Hausman responded: what about the NDAs you make other people sign?

While no direct allegation was made, Kylie Rae - a super-promising babyface who disappeared from AEW almost as quickly as she was signed - responded with a heart emoji to a tweet alluding to Jericho’s rumoured sexual misconduct. 

Dots were connected.

AEW promoted Worlds End (sic) on December 30. Jericho was jeered and pelted with chants of “NDA!”. In the post-show press conference, Tony Khan - who had to know this was coming, but chose to wear a stupid hat regardless - hardly backed his man. Khan did not definitively state that Jericho has never been the subject of a complaint pertaining to his behaviour. 

This event was ugly in the extreme, and yet, Jericho was rewarded with his mandatory TV time. He even, under the guise of his awful meta character, took the piss by naming a terrible talking segment precisely that. 

Jericho has tanked his legacy and prevents AEW from recapturing the “feeling”. This would be karmic, were it not for the fact that he’s still making millions. 

Also, his ‘Learning Tree’ gimmick is so bad that it’s almost working out in his favour: some are already starting to forget what actually prompted the backlash.

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!