Chris Jericho believes him signing with AEW is what triggered WWE to start offering its Superstars bigger contracts.

One week and counting until AEW's first event, Double Or Nothing. That's right, AEW's very first event. That might be hard to believe considering the amount of hype that already surrounds the promotion. Huge stars have already signed big money contracts, a TV deal for a weekly show on TNT has been announced, and it would appear that WWE is a little scared.

Now, Vince McMahon and co aren't going to admit that, of course. However, the way in which WWE is acting and the rumors that are swirling would suggest all is not well. Ratings are dropping through the floor and Superstars are having money thrown at them to convince them to stay. All of that as former WWE employees have been open about their AEW contracts being the best of their careers.

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Chris Jericho is one of those stars, and he has recently claimed that everyone in WWE should be thanking him. "Everyone in WWE owes Chris Jericho a thank you because the moment I signed with AEW, it became legit," Y2J told TV Insider. "That’s when everyone started getting these huge raises to not go." Jericho compared the situation to the formation of the World Hockey Association during the 1970s.

Normally, we would point out that this is the kind of thing that someone else should say about a person. However, since it's Y2J, we kind of like it. The lines between wrestling Jericho and real-life Jericho are incredibly blurred. He even refers to himself in the third person. Plus, he probably has a point. AEW signing Jericho for a massive amount of money was a statement of intent on right from the off.

Suffice to say, despite sending the majority of his career there, Jericho isn't the biggest fan of WWE right now. Y2J likes to play nice with all wrestling companies. He is one of the main reasons promotions have been working together. However, upon discovery that he had signed with AEW, WWE informed Jericho that he could no longer have WWE Superstars on his podcast. Pretty petty, and another sign that WWE is very aware of and perhaps a little worried by the existence of AEW.

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