Chris Jericho on If AEW is Competing with WWE, Being AEW’s Locker Room Leader, Career Future

A recent episode of the Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions had Chris Jericho as the guest. Some of the topics discussed included Jericho’s thoughts on if AEW is in competition with WWE, being the locker room leader in AEW, and the future of his wrestling career and retirement plans.

On the topic of if AEW is in competition with WWE, Jericho stated:

“I didn’t think there would be another national promotion again that could really…I don’t want to say competition, because we’re not in competition. Obviously, by proxy, we’re thrown into that, but we’re worried about our own stuff and doing things differently and doing things a different way to draw the fanbase to create more of the choices that we had during the Monday Night Wars. We haven’t had those choices in a while and now we do and people latched on to it.”

On the topic of being AEW’s locker room leader, Jericho stated:

“Our first show was in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand and we sold it out. I had a team meeting with the roster and I said, ‘I want you guys to remember this moment because this is a historical moment in the business. No matter what happens, this is the first time in 20 years that there is an actual company that can sell out Las Vegas, that will do 150,000 buys on pay-per-view, with an actual television deal. Don’t take this for granted because it doesn’t happen every day and it’ll probably never happen again.’ I threw my pole in the sand. Undertaker doesn’t say he’s the locker room leader. I never say that either, but if people have questions, ideas, or concerns, my door is getting knocked on all the time. I feel like Vince sometimes, there’s a line of people waiting to talk to me because I have the advice. Not only telling you what you want to hear, but also what you don’t want to hear. That’s my responsibility as well.”

On the topic of the future of his wrestling career and when he would consider retirement, Jericho stated:

“In 2005, I thought I was done. In 2015, I just worked house shows, no TV. 2018, I thought I was done. I still feel good and can have the best match on the show at any point in time. The last pay-per-view we had in AEW, the Young Bucks vs. Jericho and MJF, they said it was the best match on the show. As long as I don’t feel like I’m a parody of myself — this is why you said you’re never coming back. If you’re not Stone Cold Steve Austin, the way Stone Cold Steve Austin wants to be — the moment I feel I can’t do that, I’ll be gone. Right now, I’m in such a great place with all these great people and amazing talent, it’s fun. Maybe a year, two years, maybe I’ll explode into dust in a week.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com 1, 2, & 3