Matt Hardy is still positive about Chris Jericho.
Jericho has been the subject of negative online discourse for months, as some fans believe that ‘The Learning Tree’ is not beneficial for AEW television and that he has killed the momentum of rising stars in AEW.
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Despite the discourse, the company has continued to use Jericho in a prominent position on AEW TV in episodes of Dynamite, Collision and Rampage. Additionally, Jericho recently won the ROH World Championship, meaning he will likely be featured on ROH TV in the future.
On the latest edition of The Extreme Life Of Matt Hardy, Matt Hardy gave his opinion on Jericho and said that he believes he should still be on TV at this stage of his career because he brings a lot to the company.
“First and foremost, I understand that I’m an older guy in wrestling, someone who is seen as an old talent, someone who is kind of seen as a living legend. Chris and I fall into the same category. There are a lot of people at AEW who felt that Jeff and I shouldn’t be there, that we shouldn’t be in the spotlight, it was pretty cruel. It’s so funny that we came to TNA and the numbers are up across the board and it’s not just myself and Jeff, but we definitely helped. We helped with that problem. They are selling more tickets than they have in over a decade. That is very positive and nice that we are deployed in the right way. Looking back, I watched the ladder match he had with Mark Briscoe, and I thought Jericho was utilized perfectly. You named Jericho Ring Of Honor Champion. If you’re trying to build Ring Of Honor, even if it’s on the ROH app or on the site, he’s a great guy to be the champion and put the spotlight on him. That match where he wrestled Mark Briscoe, in my opinion, took Mark Briscoe to the next level when he watched it. The finish, he was just such a goosebumps, the way Big Bill put him on his shoulders and carried him off the ladder. I think the people who say Chris Jericho shouldn’t be on TV at this stage of the game, I just think they’re absolutely wrong. I think he has an advantage, I think he adds a lot to professional wrestling.”
Jon Alba went on to share some common internet criticisms surrounding Jericho, specifically pointing out his recent feud with HOOK and how HOOK isn’t in a better place post-feud. Alba and Hardy agreed that some of this could be attributed to booking the feud.
Alba then said that he believes fans would be more forgiving of Jericho if he went away for four to six months and freshened up his character. Hardy continued, maintaining his position that Jericho would be beneficial to AEW/ROH programming.
“I understand your point, I understand where you’re coming from, but I think Chris Jericho is such a big name and a big deal and has such a huge fan base and people who know who he is. I think he’s extremely useful for AEW programming and ROH programming and I think Tony Khan realizes that and he sees the value in Chris Jericho when it comes to ticket sales or whatever it may be and I think that’s why he understands that he must keep it around. I also feel like there’s probably a lot of loyalty between Tony Khan and Chris Jericho because he’s one of the guys. In many ways, he was like their Hogan in the beginning, as he helped put AEW on the map.
Elsewhere in the interview, Hardy said that TNA is paying for Chris Bey’s medical expenses. More information here.
Jericho appeared on the Halloween edition of ROH On HonorClub. More information here.
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