"Reached late stage Ric Flair levels of embarrassing," "Tarnishing your legacy" - Fans react to top AEW star's sloppy main event match

The latest episode of AEW Collision witnessed a singles bout between ROH World Champion Chris Jericho and FTR's Dax Harwood. The contest was the main event of the Saturday night show and was booked to build heat for the ongoing feud between Rated-FTR and The Learning Tree.

Unfortunately, the bout ended up being an underwhelming affair, which generated a negative response from the audience. Fans on social media particularly showered criticism on Chris Jericho, who seemingly let down his admirers with his lackluster performance.

The fan criticism was mainly about the pacing of the Harwood vs. Jericho contest and that it was incredibly slow, and embarrassing botches did not help the situation much.

Here's what fans had to say about the main event of this week's AEW Collision.

A fan called out Tony Khan for picking this particular contest as the main event of AEW Collision. The user urged Chris Jericho to take a backseat to other deserving talents, as he appears to be way past his prime.

"This match was not main even (sic) quality. The time has long passed that Jericho goes behind the scenes. He keeps making glaring missteps and is simply no longer any good at the job," said a fan.

Another user pointed to the formulaic nature of The Learning Tree's recent matches, which rely heavily on chop exchanges with his opponent.

"Jericho matches are just chop exchanges now. Did the same vs. Shibata and against Iishi," noted another fan.

A Twitter/X user hilariously mistook The Lionheart for former WWE star Gillberg.

"Thought that was Gillberg for a second," posted the fan.

Fans were very disappointed with the recent Jericho vs. Harwood match. One user was baffled by The Learning Tree's lack of chemistry with Dax Harwood, who is considered one of the best performers in AEW, and simply stated that the match was horrible.

"That match was horrible," posted a fan.

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The first-ever AEW World Champion Chris Jericho has no intention of retiring anytime soon

Chris Jericho's ability to keep reinventing himself has helped him ensure longevity in his pro wrestling career. While his run as The Learning Tree has failed to impress the AEW audience, the 54-year-old star has no plans of stepping away from in-ring competition.

In July 2024, Jericho opened up about his impending retirement from pro wrestling. During his appearance on the McGuire Show, The Lionheart stated that he had no intentions of riding off into the sunset anytime soon.

The Learning Tree stated that he still has the ability to hang with the very best in the squared circle. Having played a major role in AEW's growth, Jericho wants to keep contributing to the Jacksonville-based promotion for a few more years.

However, the reigning ROH World Champion desperately needs to tweak his current character to earn the respect of the fans yet again. The veteran must do away with his obnoxious gimmick and try something different with his current AEW persona.