Chris Jericho discusses the idea of the 'Jericho Vortex'.
For years, fans have built up the concept of the 'Jericho Vortex' in AEW, spreading the belief that Jericho drags down the other stars that he works with. To this day, many fans believe this narrative, noting that wrestlers like Ricky Starks and HOOK haven't benefited from their feuds with Jericho.
While chatting with Chris Van Vliet for a new interview, Jericho talked about the frequent online backlash that he receives, saying that his segment ratings tell him that his character is working.
“It’s funny how I’ve kind of become public enemy number one. As a heel by the way, isn’t that the idea? Aren’t you supposed to be public enemy number one as heel? Aren’t you supposed to not like somebody’s character when they’re a heel? Maybe I’m actually smarter than everyone and am manipulating people to what I want them to do. ‘Well fuck off, just retire already’, it’s like, okay, doesn’t that make you mad? What I look at is the ratings and nine times out of ten, my segments always go up and they’re still some of the biggest ones on the show. That tells me that whatever I’m doing is working.”
Then, Jericho spoke about the aforementioned 'Jericho Vortex', asking fans to name one star that has been dragged down from a feud with him.
“I do have a target on my back for that. Once again, it’s kind of the idea. It’s like, I am a bad guy on the show. It’s public opinion and it goes in cycles. When you’ve been in the business as long as I have, especially at the top level, that makes people mad. I always love the concept of the Jericho vortex and how anybody that works with me gets dragged down. Name one. Name one person that got dragged down from working with me. Maybe afterwards they didn’t go higher, but that’s not up to me. I’m not in charge of booking the entire company. All I can do is influence the storylines that I work on. Everybody that I can think of that worked with me certainly went to a higher level. I did a year with MJF, look where he’s at. Danny Garcia to Sammy Guevara. Daddy Magic comes off of commentary last week and gets a big pop, who do you think put him in that position? I think Big Bill and Bryan Keith have grown by leaps and bounds from working with me. I’m not gonna go through the entire cast of characters. I definitely know what my intentions are and it’s not to bury anybody, it’s to build as many people as I can and give them experience so they can start shouldering things on their own.”
The Learning Tree's Bryan Keith is set to compete on Saturday's edition of AEW Collision. Check out the current lineup for the show by clicking here.
Furthermore, if you missed anything from the February 5 edition of AEW Dynamite, catch up on the show here.
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