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Never let it be said that Chris Jericho isn’t loyal. When he was in WWE, he was very much a company guy, and after migrating to AEW four years ago, he’s been among the promotion’s strongest advocates, both in public and behind the scenes.
He’s also very much in tune with the zeitgeist, including the thought that AEW might be floundering a bit. While it started life as a clear alternative to WWE (the whole wrestling vs. sports entertainment debate), its product has arguably shifted more toward that of its larger competitor at the same time WWE has increased its focus on in-ring action.
While speaking with Dallas-area WFAA ahead of this week’s Dynamite, The Ocho stood behind what AEW has been presenting (h/t Fightful for the transcription).
People’s opinions are opinions, especially on social media, when everybody is going to say what they think, with no consequences, and mostly negativity. I think our shows have been great, the matches have been great, and we’ve done a great job of balancing the storylines along with these amazing matches. The most important thing we’ve been doing is building stars.
Jericho compared wrestling fans to KISS fans in the sense that they “hate everything, but they still buy everything.” And he feels trying to convince the haters to change their minds is a waste of time.
I never worry about people that don’t like what we do because you can’t convince them, they just don’t like it, and that’s fine. It’s your opinion. I worry about the people that do like our show and worry about making new fans of our show, that’s the most important thing.
The challenge of making new fans is an important one for AEW overall, as some high profile successes like All In London have been balanced out somewhat by softer ticket sales for weekly TV tapings and some other pay-per-views. AEW head Tony Khan hasn’t been panicked about it, though, and he can take some solace in the fact that one of his biggest stars isn’t sweating it either.
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