How Chris Jericho Is Secretly Building Wrestling's Next Megastar

Scorpio Sky Chris Jericho
AEW

His matches with Cody, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jon Moxley were all excellent, chef's kiss works in how to make a great match feel big time, he's a tippy top guy and draw, and he is absolutely f*cking hilarious on Wednesday nights. It's not just wrestling funny, either. Jericho grasps the absurdity and cruelty of comedy as an art form. The mere association is an endorsement; that Jericho so visibly loves working with Guevara tells the audience how much potential he has at just 26.

Jericho is currently occupying an Ace role, part of which involves a duty (and certainly a willingness) to get guys over. This is a commendable task, but it's not so simple. Your writer enjoyed Jericho's mini-programmes with Scorpio Sky and Jungle Boy - the builds and the matches were very well done - but it would be generous to describe them as big successes. The idea was to elevate each opponent in defeat, or draw - positioning them to ascend up the card - but it didn't really happen. The Scorpio Sky push is in reset mode.

Guevara in contrast is sprinting from that starting position.

Guevara is dripping in critical adulation now, but his early AEW forays didn't persuade many to forecast this level of stardom. He was amusing on Being The Elite - his inability to see Brandon Cutler's visible distress was a good bit - but he wasn't out there calling Cody's dog a piece of sh*t like MJF did in his great bit. His early appearances were only pretty good: the heel versus babyface dynamic in his match against Kip Sabian at Double Or Nothing was all over the place; he didn't make the Fyter Fest card; he made up the numbers in a six-man tag at Fight For The Fallen; he didn't make the All Out card, either.

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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!