Chris Jericho details the conversations he had with Vince McMahon prior to signing with AEW.
Jericho shocked many this past Tuesday when he showed up at the All Elite Wrestling rally and declared that he was all in with All Elite. Jericho spent 2018 working as a free agent, making appearances in WWE and NJPW, showing up at All In, and running his own cruise. He was reportedly in negotiations with WWE as of late December but ultimately decided to join AEW.
Appearing on Busted Open Radio, Jericho was asked about the reaction of Vince McMahon and WWE to his signing with a competitor.
"I did have an amicable conversation with him. He knew what I was doing. It was not a surprise. I didn't just show up in Jacksonville and that was it. Bottom line is, the Khan family is not messing around. They have a lot of money and capital. They were very adamant that they wanted Chris Jericho on the roster," said Jericho. "It took a while for me to believe that and believe that it could be something. Over the past year I've done a lot of work with the Young Bucks and Cody. No matter how big the offer was, there's gotta be a little belief deep down inside to me that it could work. Those guys are motivated and I love the fact that there are guys who can make a huge living outside of the system."
Jericho continued, discussing how much he enjoyed the freedom he had over the last year outside of WWE.
"I did enjoy working this last year outside the WWE system because it's Vince's world. It's a lot of fun to go back into a different world and let people in charge know that, with 29 years of experience, 'this is the right way to go' and not have to go through a producer, cameramen and director and then sit outside of Vince's office for an hour to wait to talk to him, to convince him that this is the right way to go. All of the matches I did this year were all great matches, were different, had smart elements to them, all the build up. It was all me, with input from the guys I was working with." Jericho said, "When the offer came down from the Khans, WWE was very amicable in saying 'Congratulations.'"
In the same interview, Jericho revealed that he would not have signed with AEW if they did not have a great TV offer on the table. As of now, no TV deal has been made official.
