Just a few moments ago on WWE SmackDown, a stunning moment a few years ago featuring a AEW star was surprisingly featured on The Grayson Waller Effect to open the show. Fans have reacted to the quick cameo and were surprised to see him there. This would be Chris Jericho.
Jericho spent roughly two decades with the company with a run that began in the late 1990s and spanned across the next 20 years. He then joined AEW in 2019, and became one of its biggest stars at the time, as he even became the inaugural AEW World Champion. Currently, he has a heel gimmick as The Learning Tree and he has even captured the FTW Championship.
Tonight on SmackDown, Grayson Waller had Cody Rhodes as a guest on his show. He took the liberty of creating a compilation of Kevin Owens turning on his friends for Rhodes. This was a way for him to convince him that someone like that was not the best candidate for a world title shot. One of these moments showed Owens turning on Chris Jericho in 2017 during the Festival of Friendship on WWE RAW.
Fans did not expect WWE to fully show Y2J during their segment. This could be due to other AEW names like Jon Moxley being cut out during some segments aired by the company. Other fans did not like this, as they had to see him on their screens on yet another day this week.
"WE GOT CHRIS JERICHO ON WWE TV???? #SmackDown," asked a fan.
"Learning tree on WWE programming," another mentioned.
"God I thought I was free of that on Friday nights! What have I done to deserve this???" one wondered.
Others reacted positively, with one saying this meant that the forbidden door between both companies was open tonight. One fan talked about how great of a segment it was at the time, and how it just had to be featured.
"HHH is doing this on purpose," said another.
"DOOR!!! OPENING!!! WIDE!!!" one mentioned.
"To be fair, that segment was amazing," another mentioned.
Chris Jericho talked about his history of uplifting talent on AEW
While speaking to TV Insider, The Learning Tree talked about the so-called Jericho Vortex. This has had a negative meaning as many have connected this to stars being forced to feud with him as he wanted to hog the spotlight.
He had a different perception as he claimed that he used this opportunity to aim to uplift talent, and put them on the map. He cited several AEW stars as examples, including Cody Rhodes while he was still with the company.
"I love using the Jericho Vortex as a positive thing. Not every single feud or story you tell in wrestling will work, but I have to say in AEW, that 90% of the guys I've worked with and stories told have been pretty good. That goes back to day one. I think I worked with Darby Allin in week three without knowing who he was. Orange Cassidy, Jack Perry, Scorpio Sky and beyond that. Even Cody Rhodes. Cody was not who he is now. He was a guy who had been a journeyman and then became one of the top guys in AEW. He was earmarked to be, but I did a lot to put a spotlight on him.” [H/T - TV Insider]
It is safe to say that this may not only apply to AEW, as Jericho as gotten to work in WWE with several generations of talent over the years.
Major rumor about recently released stars HERE