Matt Hardy is still positive on Chris Jericho.
Jericho has been the subject of negative online discourse for months now, as some fans believe that 'The Learning Tree' is not beneficial to AEW television and that he has killed the momentum of rising stars in AEW.
Despite the discourse, the company has continued to use Jericho in a prominent position on AEW TV across episodes of Dynamite, Collision, and Rampage. Furthermore, Jericho recently won the ROH World Championship, meaning that he will likely be featured on ROH TV going forward.
On the latest edition of The Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy, Matt Hardy gave his take on Jericho and said that he believes he should still be on TV during this stage of his career, as he adds a lot to the company.
“First and foremost, I understand being an older guy around in wrestling, someone who is looked at as like a legacy talent, someone that is looked at as like a living legend more or less. Chris and I fall in the same category. There are a lot of people in AEW that thought Jeff and I shouldn’t be there, we shouldn’t be featured, it was pretty brutal. It’s so funny that we came to TNA and numbers across the board are up and it’s not just myself and Jeff, but we definitely helped. We helped with that issue. They’re selling more tickets than they have in over a decade. It’s a very positive thing and it’s nice that we are being utilized in the correct way. Looking back on it, I watched the ladder match that he had with Mark Briscoe, and I thought Jericho was utilized perfect. You put Jericho as the Ring Of Honor champion — If you’re trying to build up Ring Of Honor, even if it is on the ROH app or the site, he’s a great guy to be the champion and feature him. That match where he wrestled Mark Briscoe, it elevated Mark Briscoe in my opinion watching it. The finish, he was just such a chickenshit heel, the way Big Bill put him on his shoulders and carried him off the ladder. I think the people that say Chris Jericho should not be on TV at this stage of the game, I just think they’re absolutely wrong. I think he has a benefit, I think he adds a lot to pro wrestling."
Jon Alba went on to share some of the internet's common criticisms around Jericho, mainly pointing out his recent feud with HOOK and how HOOK isn't in a better place after the feud. Alba and Hardy agreed that some of that could be attributed to the booking of the feud.
Alba then said that he believes fans would be more forgiving towards Jericho if he went away for four to six months and refreshed his character. Hardy continued on and maintained his stance on Jericho being beneficial to AEW/ROH programming.
“I get your point, I see where you’re coming from, but I think Chris Jericho is such a big name and big deal and has such a huge fan base and people who are aware of who he is. I think he is extremely beneficial to AEW programming and ROH programming and I think Tony Khan realizes that and he is seeing the value in Chris Jericho when it comes to ticket sales or whatever else it may be and I think that’s why he understands to keep him around. Also, I feel like there’s probably a lot of loyalty from Tony Khan to Chris Jericho because he is one of the guys, in many ways he was like their Hogan in the beginning because he helped put AEW on the map.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Hardy said that TNA is paying for Chris Bey's medical expenses. Learn more here.
Jericho appeared on the Halloween edition of ROH On HonorClub. Learn more here.
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