How Chris Jericho Is Secretly Building Wrestling's Next Megastar

Le Champion and Le Protégé (that's French for Protege).

Sammy Guevara
Scott Lesh Photography/AEW

Look at the adjective: build.

It's important to note immediately that Chris Jericho isn't making Sammy Guevara a megastar because Sammy Guevara brought himself to the mainstream stage. This is closer to collaboration than "creating" and its dreaded connotations.

A new breed of professional wrestler, Guevara grasped the opportunities lurking everywhere within the digital world to hustle his way into prominence. He documented virtually every second of his grind, and he had evidence of the hustle to get bookings. And when he did, he impressed; as is the case with the majority of pro wrestlers in today's industry, he generated buzz with a strong showing at PWG's Battle of Los Angeles weekend. Guevara worked a pulsating, totally demented match with Joey Janela at 2017's tournament that almost stole the weekend from the more established, acclaimed and loaded field. He needed work, as all wrestlers of his experience level do, but he got here on his own.

It's important also to consider the difficulty in Guevara's task, should "megastar" read hyperbolic. He has to avoid being outclassed by Chris Jericho in career form - and think of the ground that covers. Jericho is phenomenal in 2020; your usual Twitter mutants forced him to delete the tweet stating as much, but as an all-rounder, that Jericho isn't the best in the world is difficult to argue.

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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!