3 AEW stars who got sucked into the dreaded "Jericho Vortex"

Chris Jericho is now largely seen as a controversial figure by AEW fans, with many criticizing his current work as a heel. Even though Jericho has had a legendary career in professional wrestling that has spanned decades, accumulating countless accolades, fans want him to step away from the spotlight.

Some fans have pointed to the former AEW World Champion hurting young stars' momentum after working with them for a prolonged feud in the company. This phenomenon has been dubbed by fans as the "Jericho Vortex." We're here to point out some examples of a few stars getting sucked into that vortex:

#3. Sammy Guevara's run with Jericho in AEW

Sammy Guevara never managed to reach his true potential within All Elite Wrestling, even after being pilled as one of the four pillars. Many fans have pointed to his singles run never really taking off due to his prolonged alliance with Jericho.

Both stars had a long and complicated storyline back in 2019 in The Inner Circle that seemed to have benefitted Sammy at first. Their mentor and sidekick act was working wonders for Guevara's heel act, but when it came time to break away from Jericho's shadow, the angle became too messy.

Sammy's second run alongside Jericho in 2022 within The JAS felt like a step backward for him rather than trying something new to move forward. Even though The Spanish God put on stellar performances he had always been seen as Chris Jericho's sidekick rather than evolving as a legitimate singles star.

#2. Daniel Garcia lost his momentum

The current TNT Champion was once seen as a young dragon that could supersede Bryan Danielson's technical work in AEW. However, he had been sucked too deep into the Jericho Vortex to accomplish that task. During his time in The JAS Garcia rebranded himself as a sports entertainer.

There were many moments teased that the star was finally ready to break out of Jericho's shadow but it happened too late. His fake babyface turn also was the straw that broke AEW fans' newfound belief in him as a rising star and crushed his momentum when he swerved everyone to rejoin Chris Jericho.

Even though Garcia would eventually reject Jericho and walk out on him in the end as well, it was too late to recover the lost momentum.

#1. The current Don Callis Family member Konosuke Takeshita

Konosuke Takeshita was built as the next best thing once he arrived in AEW. The current International Champion was on red-hot fire after defeating the ace of AEW, Kenny Omega, at All Out 2023 and seemed destined to be a main-event star.

However, his momentum was soon stalled by being dragged into a slow feud with Chris Jericho alongside Don Callis in late 2023. Instead of building upon his popularity, the feud saw the main focus being put on Don Callis and Chris Jericho's drama, with Takeshita only serving the role of an enforcer.