As AEW contracts begin to come due over the next calendar year, WWE fans have already begun fantasy booking performers from the black and gold brand jumping ship to The Fed for a chance to compete with and against their former co-worker Cody Rhodes.
Kenny Omega? Sure, he'd look great in the ring against other former Bullet Club leaders like Finn Balor, A.J. Styles, and maybe even “Switchblade” Jay White. The Young Bucks? Oh yeah, finally, fans can cross off dream matches against The Usos and New Day. But what about Chris Jericho? Would AEW's first-ever “Le Champion” jump back to the company he dedicated nearly two decades of his life to for one final run? Based on his comments to The Daily Star, the answer to that question is a resounding no.
“I don’t see why it wouldn’t be,” Jericho said. “I don’t hold a torch for WWE. To me, that’s not ‘the place to be’. AEW is the place to be. It really is. I’ve been in WWE. I know how it works. They work that way, I don’t care if Vince is there, Hunter is there, or whoever is there. They have a way of doing things, and I was there for 20 years and was pretty good at it. I like the way we do things at AEW better… so I don’t know why I wouldn’t want to finish my career in AEW.”
“I never thought that I wouldn’t finish my career with WWE, but things happened, and I was just like ‘I want to go to Japan and do this match [with NJPW]’ and it opened up a whole new world for me. It was like ‘oh my gosh, this is the fun side of wrestling again!' Business is business and there’s always ups and downs, but I have zero interest in ever going back to WWE. That’s not out of bitterness or anger. I love Vince and I love Hunter and all the people there. But I just really dig AEW, and I have a stake in the game. I came here right out of the gate – I was the guy. Besides Jim Ross, there was nobody that had really been on television on a national basis other than me. I take great pride in that. I started here, why would I want to walk away? There’s so much more that we can do. The sense of accomplishment is massive.”
Though Jericho hasn't been in the AEW Wold Championship picture in a minute – Ring of Honor is a whole ‘nother story – “The Ocho” has remained a steady part of Tony Khan's booking strategy for the entire history of AEW, with a match already booked against Ricky Starks at Revolution. If Jericho is down with helping to elevate young stars like “Absolute,” then there's no reason to believe he couldn't have his wish and retire in AEW, especially since he already has a post-wrestling gig lined up as a commentator on Rampage.
Chris Jericho sees glimpses of generational talent in Ricky Starks.
Stopping by Busted Open Radio in the leadup to AEW's next Pay-Per-View, Jericho was asked if getting in the ring with Starks is like his time working programs with The Rock and gave a glimpse into what kind of star he believes his Revolution foe could become.
“When you first stand in the ring with The Rock, you talk about a generational talent, that's a different level,” Jericho said via Fightful. “The thing with Ricky is, I've seen glimpses of that, which is great. He's still harnessing and the idea for this program was to continue to build. He did a great promo in San Antonio when we started that really blew my mind, I thought it was awesome. Then there were some moments that weren't quite as good just because that's how it goes. I thought last night [Wednesday] was the best Starks has been in our program so far. Nuances. A lot of the younger guys, they'll talk with deep breathing because they are afraid to be like, ‘I want to say this. Pause. Let the crowd react.' He really had some great nuances with that. That's what Sammy Guevara and Danny Garcia are learning. Guys have to learn when they haven't had a lot of promos, really how to hone in what you are and how to hold the crowd in the palm of your hand without saying a word. At the click of a pen, shall we say. Ricky is really starting to hone in on that and figure it out, which has been great.”
At 33, Starks has been wrestling professionally for 11 years, but he's only been on national television since he signed with AEW following an unsuccessful – but in a way, very successful – open challenge versus Rhodes for the TNT Championship. If he can continue to build on his momentum, there's little reason to believe Starks couldn't be something special in professional wrestling history too.
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