Chris Jericho discusses the longevity of storytelling in wrestling in aftermath of backlash from AEW fans
Former AEW World Champion Chris Jericho recently spoke about the element of longevity in pro-wrestling storytelling.
Despite putting on a stellar pay-per-view last month in the form of Dynasty 2024, All Elite Wrestling has faced regular criticism due to the often polarizing creative decisions of Tony Khan. Fans have slammed the promotion over several major angles, such as The Young Bucks airing footage of Jack Perry's brawl with CM Punk backstage at All In 2023 the previous month and The Elite attacking Tony Khan on last week's episode of Dynamite.
Chris Jericho has been another frequent target of AEW fans in recent months. His popularity has clearly been dwindling lately, with viewers and wrestling enthusiasts pushing for Jericho to be removed from television. In the meantime, The Lionheart has re-invented himself, adopting the gimmick of The Learning Tree and winning the FTW Championship from HOOK at Dynasty 2024.
In an appearance on the Busted Open podcast, Chris Jericho discussed the nature of long-term storytelling in wrestling and argued that viewers should be less critical, more open-minded, and patient while watching wrestling storylines.
"That's how you tell great stories," Jericho said. "Some of them are a month long, some of them are six months long, some of them are a year long. That's just how it goes in wrestling." [H/T Wrestling Inc]
Ryback believes that AEW will be fine without Chris Jericho
Towards the end of 2023 and the start of the new year, Chris Jericho found himself facing serious allegations regarding his conduct towards a former female AEW star. Although the credibility has not been officially acknowledged, the accusations against Jericho greatly affected The Lionheart's connection with the audience.
Former WWE superstar Ryback recently shared his perspective on the subject. Speaking on his podcast, The Ryback Show, the former Intercontinental Champion speculated on whether Jericho could leave All Elite Wrestling if the allegations brought against him were proven to be credible.
He also claimed that the promotion would be fine without The Ocho, having acquired several major stars in recent months.
"It will be interesting to see if there are legs to any of this and it gets out... Is Jericho gone from AEW? Does Tony [Khan] just distance himself, there's a lot.... And in all fairness now... they have enough people there and they have enough names there that it's not just like how they started where this would be a huge blow. So you know, you never know. I just think the landscape of wrestling like we said this year, a lot is going to happen, there's potential for a lot to change for things to get shaken up in ways we could not even imagine," said Ryback.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for Chris Jericho in AEW.