In recent years, Chris Jericho has developed a reputation for attaching himself to younger wrestlers to keep himself relevant. However, in the process, those in the "Jericho Vortex" don't seem to come out the other side having gained much from their interactions with Jericho.
The former WWE Superstar recently spoke with Chris Van Vliet and shared his take on whether the perception fans now have of him is fair or not.
As you might expect, he doesn't necessarily agree with the criticisms!
"I always love the concept of the Jericho Vortex and how anybody that works with me gets dragged down. Name one. Name one person that got dragged down from working with me, maybe afterwards, they didn’t go higher. But that’s not up to me. I’m not in charge of booking the entire company. All I can do is influence with the storylines that I work on."
"But everybody that I can think of that worked with me certainly went to a higher level from, you know, I did a year with MJF, and look where he’s at, to Danny Garcia, to Sammy Guevara to, I mean, you know, Daddy Magic last week comes off a commentary and gives, gets a big pop. Who do you think, you know, put him in that position, you know, all of those guys."
"I think Big Bill and Brian Keith have grown by leaps and bounds from working here work with me, you know. I’m not going to go through the entire cast of characters, but I definitely know what my intentions are. And it’s not to bury anybody. It’s to build as many people as I can and give them experience so they can learn how to start shouldering things on their own."
No one ever expected Jericho to leave WWE and, coming off the back of a successful stint in that company, he was initially among AEW's biggest draws.
Agree or disagree with the "Jericho Vortex" sentiments, his popularity has waned recently and some even argue that he now has the dreaded "go away" heat. For Jericho, it boils down to him being a damn good heel.
"It’s funny how I’ve become kind of public enemy number one as a heel, by the way. Isn’t that kind of the idea? Aren’t you supposed to be public enemy number one as a heel? Aren’t you supposed to not like somebody’s character when that character is a heel? Some maybe I’m actually smarter than everyone. I’m manipulating people to do what I want them to do. ‘Well, f**k off. Just retire already.’"
"It’s like, okay, isn’t that make you mad? Because what I look at is the ratings, and nine times out of 10 my segments always go up, and there’s still some of the biggest ones on the show. So that tells me that whatever it is that I’m doing is working, but I do have a target on my back for that, and that’s once again,I mean, it’s kind of the idea, you know, it’s like, I am a bad guy on the show. It’s public opinion, and it goes in cycles, you know. And when you’ve been in the business as long as I have, especially at the top level, that makes people mad, you know."
As always, you can let us know your thoughts on Jericho's comments in the usual place.