Former AEW World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho has accused Vince McMahon of treating new, big-name wrestlers poorly simply because he's not the one who made them popular.
Jericho, who was a WWE star for many years, was able to flip the script somewhat and make a name for himself elsewhere before eventually joining AEW. And, speaking to Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins on his Talk is Jericho podcast, he claimed McMahon doesn't appreciate great content as long as he isn't the one who thinks it up, using Ryder and Daniel Bryan as examples.
"You guys don't have to contribute this if you don't feel it, but there really is a bit of a strange resentment," Jericho said (H/T Wrestling Inc.). "If Vince doesn't think of it, it's not valid, it's not real. And the same thing happened with Daniel Bryan when he first came in. I mean Vince did not like him because he was a vegan and all these other reasons. He went and got over because he knows how to get over, and they still resisted it for so long until finally, they had no other choice.
"I feel the same thing happened with Zack Ryder in that you got over so well. You gave yourself an internet title."
Ryder, real name Matt Cardona, discussed a low point in his WWE career during which he felt like his accomplishments were being nullified.
"One of the most heartbreaking things in my career and also my life was seeing all the hard work from Z! True Long Island Story literally every week, it was getting erased," he recalled.
"I felt like someone had a giant pencil eraser and was erasing a part of my body. That's what it felt. One of my biggest regrets is that I was too young and afraid to almost, not stand up for myself, but question like, 'hey, why is this happening?' I should have went right to Vince and said like, 'hey, I'm selling this merch. I'm doing this. I'm doing that. Why is this happening?' And I just took it."
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Cardona was one of the talents cut by WWE last month. His release came on the back of a 15-year stint with the company and it's likely he joins AEW when his non-compete expires.
Cody Rhodes has made no secret of wanting the former WWE star to sign with the new promotion and his appearance on Jericho's podcast is likely an indicator of that as well.
Source: Talk is Jericho (H/T Wrestling Inc.)