Chris Jericho has high praise for Vince McMahon.
On a new episode of Swerve City Podcast, Chris Jericho sat down with fellow AEW star Swerve Strickland to discuss a multitude of topics as it pertains to his music and wrestling careers. Given recent events and Jericho’s history in WWE, the topic of Vince McMahon’s retirement was discussed at length.
“I can go back working for him for 17-18 years, and obviously like you said, there’s some ‘Vince-isms’ that don’t make sense. But I did learn a lot about the psychology of the business, and how to be a star, and how to conduct yourself. How to be a true main eventer. How to be a money draw. I think the pros, if that’s the right word, the pros of Vince leaving WWE will be seen very quickly. As you can see, there’s a lot of changes right off the bat—a little refreshing and this kind of thing. Lots of in-ring time.”
“I think the cons—no pun intended—of Vince leaving won’t be felt for a few months, maybe more. Six months, a year. There’s a lot of things that Vince did—just little things—and I know people bag on him for his recent booking and stuff, and obviously there was a habit he had. But there’s those guys that are the true main event stars [that] are the legit stars. They’re legit stars. You can spot them from a mile away. I mean, look at the difference between Drew McIntyre now prior to the last run he had. Vince worked with him to make him a top guy, top star. Same with Roman. It’s completely different than it was before he turned heel. Brock is a babyface. I can tell right now that Vince worked with him as being a babyface. You can spot it. I can see it.”
“A lot of those guys are working in Vince’s image. Stephanie’s obviously been trained since day one. Hunter’s been trained from day one. So all of Vince’s principles will probably be used, but there’s something to be said—you know, I could be in a band with Eddie Van Halen and Warren Van Halen. He was the greatest guitar player in the world. He quits Van Halen and I bring in Steve Bai, who’s just a good of a player, but he’s not a Van Halen. He’s not a genius the same way Vince is a once in a generation genius. Now, people can watch us and go, ‘you’re standing up for him.’ I’m not saying anything outside of the ring or whatever. I’m just saying what I learned about the business from him and Pat Patterson—another genius—and I think Vince learned from Pat too. And I think learning in that era, it’s something that will end up hurting in the long run, and by no fault of anybody’s own. It’s just that, you know, time moves on and that’s one of those guys that saw the business differently than anybody else.”
Jericho concluded, “It would be great if he would still be able to be there to consult, but I don’t think Vince is going to consult anything. I think that when he decided to leave or was asked to leave or whatever the story is, I don’t think he can be a guy that can hang around on the outskirts. I think he’s going to have to go and find something else that he loves to do.”
Related: Chris Jericho Was Supposed To Team With Eddie Kingston, Then The Story Went In A Different Direction
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit Swerve City Podcast with a h/t to WrestleZone for the transcription.
