At the end of the day, it all came down to money for Chris Jericho.
The former WWE champion has made it known that AEW made him a fantastic offer, which was one of the ultimate reasons he decided to sign with the company. However, it appears that WWE didn't value Jericho as much as AEW did as the former IWGP Intercontinental champion states that he wanted Brock Lesnar type money, an offer the company didn’t agree to.
The most surprising news here is that even Impact Wrestling made Jericho a better offer than the WWE, according to the man himself. The current AEW star spoke on Wrestling Observer Radio and details the offer Impact Wrestling made him (transcription courtesy of Fightful.com):
"In my mind, from a pure business standpoint, I'm worth as much as Brock Lesnar to WWE as far as what I bring to the table. That's the watermark that I had. For me to go back to Vince, I want that kind of a deal. When I was starting to talk with Tony (Khan) and New Japan and Impact as well-- Impact offered me a hell of a deal for a four match series. We're talking mid-seven figures. They have some cash as well. When they believe in something, they have money for it," said Jericho.
Jericho is set to make his debut for AEW at Double or Nothing on May 25th. The former WWE champion will face Kenny Omega in a Wrestle Kingdom 12 rematch.