How Chris Jericho Is Secretly Building Wrestling's Next Megastar

The Inner Circle
AEW

Jericho knows when to get his heat back; his superb application of the Liontamer at Full Gear made a tricky finish convincing, and you believed Sammy Guevara, despite how much of a goof he acts, when he said he was crazy in his rematch with Darby Allin a few weeks ago. He took a ridiculously painful bump on a ladder to force you to take him seriously. He's not a comedic figure. He's an entertainer.

It's easy to infer this mentor/protégé relationship. We saw the machinations of it live last week.

On the May 13 Dynamite, Chris Jericho made swift work of Sugar 'Pineapple Pete' Dunkerton before issuing a challenge to the Elite for a 'Stadium Stampede' match. He was backed by his Inner Circle associates, of course, the heel stable he claimed were "fair and honourable gentlemen". As he said those words, Jericho's eyes seemed to drift, and thinking on the spot, he turned his attention towards his protégé. He handed him the live microphone and the opportunity that comes with it. "Aren't we? Aren't we Sammy?" he asked Guevara, inviting him to play in the wiggle room. "Super honourable, baby!" Guevara said.

That wasn't a bad line. Disingenuous, in character, but bland. It wasn't going to fire up the meme-makers or anything. Without hesitation, Jericho, knowing Sammy was capable of better, asked him to repeat the line in Spanish. He set up the gag, and Guevara deadpanned it out of the park: "El honourable," he said. To the less cultured among you, this translates not as "Super honourable, baby!" but "The honourable," an intentionally dumb-f*ck exposé of Sammy's brilliant heel bullsh*t made all the funnier by the fact that the English and Spanish use the same words for the phrase "Super honourable".

CONT'D...(5 of 6)

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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!