5 Reasons Chris Jericho will probably lose the AEW World Title in his first defense
Chris Jericho literally lost the physical AEW World Title belt recently and recovered it. He will be making his first defense of the newly-won championship on the 3rd episode of AEW's new show on TNT on October 16th.
It would be interesting to see if Jericho's reign ends at a month and a half, with zero successful title defenses.
Several men have the chance to win it. We could see a rematch with Adam Page or the first-time-ever match against PAC, who defeated Kenny Omega at All Out and is scheduled to possibly feud with The Hangman moving forward.
It could even Jon Moxley who, at that point, would likely be only two days removed from his IWGP United States Championship match at New Japan's King of Pro-Wrestling event.
Cody, although he will likely be staying out of the main event spotlight for a while, would even be a strong choice to be the second-ever champion, if only because the AEW live crowds treat him as a God-like figure.
It is difficult to say how the challenger will be determined. Jericho himself, along with Cody, are the only men who have had more than one match and are undefeated in singles competition.
The company is already running a tag team tournament, so it's unlikely that they will have another tournament to choose the first challenger for Jericho's title.
Both the first AEW World Title and AEW Women's World Title matches were decided by one competitor winning a battle royal and the other winning a singles match that they did pretty much nothing to qualify for.
With those ramifications in play, maybe the first guy who makes a verbal challenge to Jericho could get a match -- or maybe Jericho himself could choose the first person to get a shot.
No matter how they get to it, the outcome will probably be the same: Chris Jericho loses the AEW World Title (not literally, this time) in his first defense. Here are five reasons why.
#5 Jericho Only Won The Belt Because He's A Familiar Face
It was a smart move on the part of AEW to begin the journey of their new World Championship with a veteran superstar.
Jericho has a ton of credibility, a load of different title reigns under his belt, and has been on international television as a star for over 20 years.
He's a wrestler that former and current wrestling fans are very familiar with. He has a band that has been on TV and radio -- Jericho is a household name, legitimate hall of fame star in the wrestling business with a solid career outside of the ring as well.
If a person who is only somewhat familiar with wrestling tunes into AEW for its first show on TNT, they are more likely to recognize him than probably anybody on the roster who isn't Jon Moxley.
Add that to the commentary booth being able to list off all of his past accomplishments, and you have a guy who "casual" fans immediately see as being a legitimate champion.
Lapsed fans, men and women who watched wrestling in the late 1990s and into the early 2000s but have mostly stopped watching, will surely know who Jericho is.
They know he's a former champion and a star, so it might keep them interested in tuning in because he's someone they recognize. Jericho being the first champion immediately legitimizes the belt as a real World Championship. That being said, it leads directly to the next point.