What Wrestling Legends Really Think Of AEW
5. Steve Austin
Steve Austin, pro wrestling's greatest ever polymath - not one man has drawn as much money while working to a higher in-ring standard and cutting seminal promos on as compelling a television show - probably should be taken as an authority on such matters. It's as close to a bottom line as you'll get.
He raved about AEW's early presentation and specifically the performance of Chris Jericho as company Ace and World Champion.
Speaking to Paul Lazenby on the Steve Austin Show back in October, Austin had high praise for Le Champion. The highest, in fact: "To me, right now he's about as entertaining as it gets," Austin said. "He's unpredictable, is what I'm saying. I like that feeling! He feels dangerous. He's damn near unhinged, but he's very calculated, so what he's putting out right now, I'm digging."
Jericho was a sensation in those early months. He embodied perfectly the role of a tippy-top star some thought beyond him - not least of which Triple H, who in 2013 described him as a "B+ player".
Unusual subversions of contract signings; wild concession stand brawls; creative, nasty intra-match heel work: Jericho, following the shock formation of the Inner Circle, was in fact in blistering form as he mastered every beat of episodic wrestling television.