Wrestling legend Chris Jericho defeats “Hangman” Adam Page at AEW’s All Out pay-per-view to become the company’s first ever world champion. While he had been wrestling for years prior in places like Mexico, Japan, and his native Canada, Jericho first began to gain acclaim stateside via his short ECW run, which then saw him get snapped up by WCW during the Monday Night Wars era. In WCW, Jericho really started to perfect the cuttingly sarcastic, endlessly egotistical heel character he would eventually bring with him to the then-WWF, famously debuting on Raw in a promo battle with The Rock.
In the WWE, Jericho cemented a hall of fame-level career, picking up six different world championships. He would also win the Intercontinental Championship nine times, and hold just about every other title possible in WWE over the course of his decade-plus run as an active competitor. In more recent years, Jericho has taken advantage of his legendary status, only popping in to WWE for the occasional feud or big pay-per-view match, and also taking his star power over to New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Then, when All Elite Wrestling (AEW) needed a big signing to quickly establish the new organization as a player in the wrestling world, Jericho stepped up to be that person. He’s played that fact brilliantly into his onscreen character, demanding that AEW fans thank him for singlehandedly carrying the company to success. Last night at AEW’s All Out event in Chicago, Jericho battled Adam Page to crown the first AEW world champion, and the former “Y2J” emerged victorious. Check out some clips of the match and aftermath below.
And just like that, the pushing-50 Jericho continues to write wrestling history, as he prepares to lead AEW into its debut as a weekly TNT series this October. While some fans might argue that the first AEW champion should’ve been someone not established as a WWE performer, it absolutely makes sense that they chose to rely on Jericho to add immediate prestige to their untested top prize.
If anything, Jericho winning the AEW championship should’ve become obvious to everyone once Page was determined as his opponent. While Page is certainly a top star in the making, Jericho is one of the greatest of all time, and the attention received by him being world champion is worth its weight in gold to a promotion just really kicking into gear. How long he’ll hold the title is another matter, but giving Jericho a chance to work with various young talents during a long reign wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world.
More: Crucial Things AEW Must Do to Compete With WWE
