Chris Jericho said during an interview with Forbes, he plans to grow his brand and take over the world and he can't do that in AEW without a tv deal.
While speaking Forbes contributor Brian Mazique, Chris Jericho talked about all elite wrestling potential TV deal and said, "I’m not going to show up somewhere that doesn’t have a major-league television deal." It was earlier reported the reason Jericho wanted to sign with AEW was that he wanted to help out the upstart wrestling promotion but in this interview, Jericho admitted, “That’s not what I’m interested in doing. I’m not doing this to be a martyr or Robin Hood. I’m doing this to continue to grow my brand and to take over the business and the world.”
Jericho added that he knows AEW is close to a television deal saying, "I know some potential ideas as far as how we’re going to do it. I know that both of them that I’ve heard are game-changers." Calling the AEW roster that's been assembled so far a talented mix of veterans and untapped rookies, he believes the company has employed enough to cover their first year.
Jericho then sent a "you're welcome" to everyone in WWE and NJPW for joining AEW and forcing the bigger companies to up their game and extend their current roster to better deals because they are worried about the competition AEW poses.
What This Means
If Jericho is telling the truth and he wouldn't have joined AEW without a tv deal almost done or virtually guaranteed, it poses an interesting question; where will AEW land? If it's a major network that allows Jericho to keep raising his stock as a big-time wrestling star, you have to think whichever broadcast network is close to finalizing a deal with AEW, it's no slouch.
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