Chris Jericho: It’s ‘very important’ for AEW to keep adding big stars

Chris Jericho believes it’s “very important” for AEW to keep adding big stars to its roster.

In recent months, Mercedes Mone, Kazuchika Okada, and Will Ospreay have joined AEW. Tony Khan has said that he wants to keep pursuing top free agents when the opportunity arises. It remains to be seen whether Becky Lynch could be an option for AEW, but her contract with WWE is set to expire this week.

Lynch’s potential free agency was brought up in an interview that TMZ Sports conducted with Chris Jericho. Jericho said he doesn’t have any scoops about Lynch and probably knows less than the TMZ Sports host does. But Jericho believes stars jumping from promotion to promotion makes things exciting for everyone.

Jericho responded when asked how important it is for AEW to continue bringing in big stars:

“It’s very important. Because the best thing that ever happened to pro wrestling in the modern era was AEW existing. My dad played for the NHL for 10 years. And he was playing for the New York Rangers in 1972 when Bobby Hull signed with the WHA. Got a million dollars to jump from the NHL. And what did that do? It raised everybody’s salaries. He went from $35,000 to $135,000 just so they wouldn’t go to the WHA.

“That’s what happened when All Elite Wrestling started. When Chris Jericho signed there, suddenly everybody’s getting these huge raises in WWE to not come to AEW. Tony Khan, our owner, owns the [Jacksonville] Jaguars. You know, they have a lot of money in the family, so he can play that game all day long. And that’s why we brought in Will Ospreay, and Mercedes Mone, and Kazuchika Okada. You mention Becky Lynch, five years ago, Becky would have no other options. Not saying that she’s coming, but there is an option. And who knows what could happen? No one thought that Jericho would come to AEW. No one thought that [Jon] Moxley would come. Or Bryan Danielson. Or Adam Cole. Or any of these guys that have come over. So it’s exciting for the fans. And it’s exciting for the wrestlers, the talent. Because now suddenly if there’s a bidding war, that just benefits us.

“So I think it’s very important. And listen, that was one of the things of being in the Attitude Era and the Monday Night Wars with Nitro and Raw, you never knew who was going to show up. And when somebody new would come from whatever side it was to the other, it made things so much more exciting. So many more matches that you can have. So many more possibilities of seeing guys go up against each other that you never thought about. So it’s a really exciting time in wrestling, and that’s another reason why.“

Lynch’s contract with WWE is scheduled to expire on June 1. Dave Meltzer reports that Lynch is expected to take time off from WWE. A colleague of Lynch’s told PWTorch that they’re confident WWE and Lynch can work out a new deal, “especially with her husband Seth Rollins being a full-time wrestler there, but her body and mind could use a break for a while.”

At AEW Double or Nothing this past weekend, Jericho retained his FTW Championship in a three-way match against Hook and Katsuyori Shibata. Jericho will debut a new “TV Time segment” on tonight’s Double or Nothing fallout edition of Dynamite.

TMZ Sports’ full interview with Jericho can be watched below: