3 AEW stars who took shots at Vince McMahon and 2 who praised him - Former WWE Champion, Former member of The Shield

AEW boasts a number of former WWE Superstars who have jumped ship to their roster. Whether it is unhappiness at their spot in the company, creative differences or being simply let go, there are several reasons why wrestlers such as Chris Jericho, Adam Cole, Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley and others have left the pro wrestling industry giant, WWE, to sign with AEW.

While some wrestlers have amicably parted ways, others carry resentment at how Vince McMahon and co. treated them during their time in the WWE. Most of these current AEW wrestlers have since gone on record to talk about their time working for Vince.

Here we look at 3 AEW stars who took shots at their former boss and 2 who praised him.

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#5. AEW star who criticized Vince McMahon: CM Punk

WWE Chairman Vince McMahon does not always see eye-to-eye with his top stars. CM Punk was no exception. Their personal relationship became so contentious that it famously became material for on-air storylines. That ultimately led to his departure from the company.

While promoting his AEW debut at this year's All Out pay-per-view, Punk made an appearance on Chicago’s 670 The Score. The Best in the World recalled his first big disagreement with his former boss.

Ahead of the disastrous December to Dismember PPV, Punk told Vince McMahon that he didn't agree with the finish of the Elimination Chamber match, where Bobby Lashley won the ECW championship.

The PPV was a critical failure and had one of the lowest buyrates of all time. So it seemed like Punk had a point. Reflecting on that episode, he said:

“I was always going to tell him the truth. I was always going to be honest,” CM Punk said.

Punk has also been highly critical of the WWE product since walking out of the company, from his infamous appearance on Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast to his more recent comments on WWE's spate of releases.

The AEW star lashed out at WWE and Vince McMahon by proxy after the company released six wrestlers and said that it is a product that continues to produce ‘trash’.

Responding to a tweet about WWE releasing Braun Strowman, Aleister Black, Lana, Ruby Riott, Buddy Murphy, and Santana Garrett and their inability to utilize talent, Punk tweeted:

“It’s like a movie with a blockbuster budget and cast, but if it’s written by creatively bankrupt nincompoops specifically for an audience of one, in a language nobody understands anymore, it’s…..trash.”

“But people watch it because they like movies,” Punk wrote.

The AEW wrestler's contentious relationship with his former boss ensures that we won't be seeing Punk back in WWE anytime soon. But AEW is the perfect landing spot for the Straight Edge Superstar. He's made an excellent career resurgence and now faces MJF in an eagerly-anticipated feud.

#4. AEW star who praised Vince McMahon: Adam Cole

AEW shockingly signed former NXT champion Adam Cole back in September. It was quite the coup for AEW, as Cole was locked in a ratings war with the company during the brief Wednesday Night Wars.

It is an indictment on WWE that they could not keep one of the biggest young stars away from the competition. Cole even turned down a reported 1 million contract to perform on the main roster for Raw and Smackdown.

During an interview with Chris Jericho on his Talk Is Jericho podcast, Cole revealed that he had had a meeting with WWE CEO Vince McMahon a little while before his contract was up.

Adam Cole said that even though he had spoken to McMahon before, they had been briefed, adding that their meeting was his first "real" conversation with the WWE CEO.

Cole revealed that the meeting was about whether he would be moved up to RAW or SmackDown. He praised Vince, who had been "very nice" during their meeting:

I did have a meeting with Vince [McMahon] and it went really well. It was like a 30-minute conversation which was cool. I'd only talked to him for 2 or 3 minutes prior to that. I got to work the Survivor Series event and he wanted to talk to us afterward because he was really happy with the match but no real conversation before... that was the first time.

"It was really cool. He was really complimentary, very nice but the idea was for me to go to RAW or SmackDown and not stay with NXT just because, again, I'd been there for so long and I think they knew that as much as I do love NXT, I was ready to take the step of going to RAW or SmackDown. That was the gist of the conversation - whether to move me to RAW or SmackDown."

While AEW has allowed Adam Cole to reform his relationship with the Young Bucks, he'll always remember his time with the black and gold brand fondly. It seems that the former Undisputed Era leader leaves WWE on friendly terms with the chairman.

#3. AEW star who criticized Vince McMahon: Jon Moxley

Former AEW champion Jon Moxley spent nearly a decade in WWE. Debuting as part of The Shield faction with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, he became one of the most popular superstars in the company as Dean Ambrose, winning the WWE championship and taking part in numerous WrestleMania matches.

This placed him in close proximity to Vince McMahon. The WWE owner even worked closely with Moxley during his heel run in 2018, when he became embroiled in an intense rivalry with Seth Rollins.

The AEW wrestler has been upfront about the issues he's had with the Chairman's creative direction of his character. Moxley did not enjoy his subsequent turn as a villain, especially since McMahon wanted him to recite promos word-for-word.

In his new autobiography MOX, the AEW wrestler detailed how McMahon would change his style of matches.

“He even went so far as to script my matches. They all sucked. He had begun to infiltrate the house shows now too, sending detailed formats to the stressed-out producers 30 minutes before bell time, and demanding I cut cheesy heel promos to the audience as I walked to the ring,” he wrote.

That disastrous run directly contributed to Moxley making the decision to leave the company and he has flourished in AEW ever since. His subsequent success in Tony Khan's promotion is further evidence of Vince's misuse of a top star who could have done even more for the WWE if he was utilized to his fullest potential.

#2. AEW star who praised Vince McMahon:

Bryan Danielson

Bryan Danielson is killing it in AEW right now, but a majority know of the wrestler from his highly successful run in WWE as Daniel Bryan.

Danielson was the top babyface of 2010s and his storyline with The Authority led the wrestler to one of the best WrestleMania moments of modern times. The "Yes! Movement" storyline carried him all the way to the main event of WrestleMania 30.

The American Dragon credits a ton of his success with spending time in Vince McMahon's company, and the two reportedly share a close bond. It wouldn't have been outside the realms of possibility to assume that Danielson would have stayed a WWE lifer as he was mostly treated very well in the company.

When AEW came calling, Bryan made it a point to leave WWE on a positive note. In a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said the current AEW star doesn't like criticizing WWE because of his love and respect for Vince McMahon.

Meltzer even noted that Bryan had made a notebook when he first stepped foot in the sports entertainment juggernaut back in the day:

"Bryan Danielson doesn't like to knock WWE publicly because he loves Vince McMahon. I don't know if I've ever said this, you know, I think I have though, you know, he's got like [a] Vince McMahon book. He has made a book ever since he went to WWE, which is years and years ago. He has compiled of all the things that he's learned by and from Vince McMahon."

Bryan leaving the WWE was simply because he wanted a new challenge. By leaving on amicable terms with Vince, it leaves the door open for the AEW star to one day return to his former company. His stellar WWE career deserves a Hall of Fame recognition for sure.

#1. AEW star who criticized Vince McMahon: Chris Jericho

AEW's first major WWE crossover signing was Chris Jericho, and he has been pivotal in the company's success ever since.

The former AEW champion has continued to grow his legacy with Tony Khan's promotion, from starting his own stable with The Inner Circle to feuding with the company's young stars such as MJF and Jungle Boy.

Jericho has been in the wrestling business for over 30 years and spent a huge chunk of that time in WWE, working for Vince McMahon.

The two have famously butted heads over storylines and creative ideas but have always shown a huge amount of respect for each other. Despite coming over from WCW initially, Jericho managed to elevate his career even further in WWE. He has captured multiple WWE championships and holds the record for most Intercontinental title reigns.

Now that Jericho is one of the faces of AEW, it's only natural that he responds to any criticisms of the company. He's spoken openly about his thoughts on Vince McMahon, given the close relationship they previously shared.

Y2J is also not afraid to direct barbs at the WWE owner. Jericho recently claimed that McMahon holds a grudge against NXT after they lost to AEW in the ratings battle.

Jericho and Adam Cole sat down for a recent edition of the former AEW Champion's podcast, Talk is Jericho, where the two spoke extensively about NXT:

“What I think it is, and once again, I can say this just from observing, is that NXT was put on Wednesday nights, obviously that’s to combat AEW, and we’ll wipe out this ‘pi**ant’ little company right away. Problem is they had no idea what they were dealing with,” Jericho said.

“It really backfired on them. NXT was so cool. You guys would go do your weekend shows and get three times the reaction in a sold out arena than the pay-per-view would get. So then when they put NXT up against AEW, it really hurt the brand to where you lost the cool factor, and AEW was the cool one. NXT just got steamrolled, and I think, as a result, Vince kind of holds a grudge against NXT. You had the chance to beat AEW, and you didn’t. Now I’m going to take over, and I’m going to do it my way.” (H/T- WrestlingInc)

It is clear that Jericho considers WWE's attempt to put NXT up against AEW an abysmal failure. And he seemed to relish the fact that Vince and company had to walk away with their tails tucked between their legs.

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