Last night, Chris Jericho defeated Mark Briscoe in a ladder match to win the Ring of Honor World Championship. Now the optimistic side of me was expecting Big Bill to start helping Jericho up the ladder during the last spot of the match, only to turn on him, chokeslam him, and kickstart the Big Bill push AEW fans all want and deserve.

But instead, we got the opposite.

Tony Khan, Baka na no? Do you think we want this? Do you think fans want any of this?

Look, I’ll give AEW the benefit of the doubt right now in other areas of the show. Kyle Fletcher’s promo, while long, was surprisingly good. The kid has potential. Private Party picks up a pinfall over The Young Bucks, and this sets up a high stakes match for the Tag Team Championship next week.

But kuso da yo, aside from an entertaining opening match between Sammy Guevara vs. Shelton Benjamin (why is Sammy Guevara not a focus of Mox’s ire as an AEW original?) , this show was mostly a chore to get through. And do you know why?

Because Chris Jericho, for some reason, is still fucking here.

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I Was Jericho’s Biggest Fan

Being exposed to ECW and AJPW as a teenager did wonders for my pro wrestling brain. I had the unique ability to see forms of wrestling other than WWF. Jericho was part of that process, seeing him as “Lionheart” Chris Jericho in ECW, and I followed him to WCW and beyond. I probably marked out harder than most when he debuted in WWF in his famous debut promo when he interrupted The Rock in 1999.

Make no mistake. Chris Jericho is a legend. He has held world titles all over the world, set the bar for future generations, and has the unique ability to sell multiple gimmicks and personas and make all of them work.

He’s a gem in this industry, and he always has been. However, I hate to say it, but…

He’s bringing the entire show down right now. 

Here’s why. 

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Losing Pace

The absolute most crucial part of any form of media, be it TV, cinema, or pro wrestling, is pacing. Now again, this most recent show in general had bright spots — and if we’re being subjective, most AEW, and probably WWE shows for that matter — all have their bright spots.

But is it bright enough to keep the room lit?

For last night, no. And part of this, to no fault of Mark Briscoe, was the entire Chris Jericho match.

You’ve got a women’s championship feud that’s barely a memory right now between Anna Jay and Mariah May and somehow the Ring of Honor World Championship is more important than the AEW Women’s World Championship?

Jamie Hayter is still one of the most over women on the roster, and you’re telling me we couldn’t have a tried-and-true cross-feud tag match with Hayter and Anna vs. Mariah and Penelope instead of watching a 53-year-old man win a developmental championship?

The entire theme of Moxley’s newly found vengeance is to “toughen up” the younger parts of the roster, right?

If AEW’s current zeitgeist is to push AEW originals and put over the future of this company, having Chris Jericho win a world championship sends the complete opposite message. 

In short, his presence is slowing the show down. It’s a bathroom break — a time to play on ones phone and do anything but pay attention to the match itself. At this point and time, Chris Jericho does nothing to further the narrative that AEW is an alternative and takes away any semblance to an identity.

Every match on every card on every AEW show should be an indicator of the company’s future — not its past. A Chris Jericho match is a reminder of how this simply isn’t happening.

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Nobody Wants This

There was a reason fans started to chant ‘please retire’ a few months ago during the FTW title reign. It’s not that fans don’t respect his legacy, nor even want him to go away forever — but step back for the sake of the future of this company. 

Most AEW fans want to see younger stars, or at least “younger” well-known stars in the mix. The aforementioned Jamie Hayter, Will Ospreay, The Acclaimed, Kris Statlander, Swerve Strickland, Willow Nightingale, Konosuke Takeshita, The Outrunners, Darby Allin, Orange Cassidy, HOOK, etc. — with the exception of a short backstage segment or post-match run-in, we saw NONE of these talents last night.

The only person that wants to see Chris Jericho on AEW television anymore is Chris Jericho.

The company is already missing enough starpower right now. MJF only appears via video now, it seems; Kenny Omega and Adam Copeland are still recovering from injuries, we aren’t getting major company stars like Swerve Strickland, Will Ospreay, or Darby Allin appearing on a regular weekly basis.

And I get it — these talents shouldn’t have to work every single week. However, the answer to that shouldn’t also be ‘Chris Jericho’.

If I was a fan at last night’s show, I would have felt a little gypped.

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Again, there are bright spots in AEW right now. While taking a step back last night, Moxley’s “takeover” still has potential. Kyle Fletcher and Will Ospreay has the makings of an excellent feud. The MVP/Swerve dynamic should be awesome when it plays out.

But when we have Chris Jericho on television right now, taking away spots from other worthy talents that need the TV time to help build towards your own fucking future, it brings the entire show down.

And this is coming from me; an AEW diehard fan. Jericho, we love you, but it’s time to go away. This is not the heat you are looking for.

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-TKW
tokusenwrestling@yahoo.com