There are many big wrestling superstars who jumped to AEW from WWE, after leaving a memorable footprint in the world’s biggest promotion. Chris Jericho is certainly one of them. Jericho’s recent legacy lies in what he achieved in AEW. But AEW’s inaugural champion didn’t keep his boundless talent confined only within one promotion, for obvious reasons.
Apart from AEW, ROH, and ECW, he had a storied history with WWE. But it seemed like Jericho was not quite as highly thought of within the company, as WWE snubbed him in their latest top list of best debuts of all time in history.
Chris Jericho hastily reacted to a recent WWE snub
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The current AEW star achieved a lot in the Stamford-based company. His countless accolades comprising the Intercontinental Championship, Tag Team Championships, World Heavyweight Championships, etc brought him the place of one of the most celebrated stars of the promotion. The 52-year-old also won over Triple H and Stone Cold Steve Austin to become the first-ever Undisputed Champion back in 2001.
However, it all started with a spectacular debut in 1999 when the Lionheart initiated his 20 years of a memorable journey with WWE. It was one of the most iconic in the company’s history, with weeks of advertising build resulting in an interruptive promo with The Rock.
However, according to WWE’s recent “Greatest Debuts of All Time” list, his historic debut ranked only as high as No 10. That implied the company snubbed the former world champion in the list of top 5. That being said, the top 5 debuts belong to Brock Lesnar, Ronda Rousey, Goldberg, Kane, and The Shield. John Cena, Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, and The Rock also came ahead of Jericho on the list.
WWE have ranked the top 10 debuts of all time in their history:
1) The Shield
2) Kane
3) Goldberg
4) Ronda Rousey
5) Brock Lesnar
6) AJ Styles
7) The Rock
8) Kevin Owens
9) John Cena
10) Chris JerichoAccurate?
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) May 18, 2023
His positioning didn’t sit well with his fans and himself as well.
The former AEW world champion didn’t take long to let his opinion out. He retweeted the post with a nutty caption, ‘Hold my beer’.
Hold my beer….. https://t.co/1UdTvjs2On
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) May 18, 2023
It’s pertinent to note that the ranking system is mostly subjective, with a lot of matters involved. Hence, it will not be impossible for fans to want to link Jericho’s WWE relationship with his lower ranking, but their instinct will probably come out wrong, and here’s why.
Chris Jericho maintains good terms with WWE even after his departure
We saw a handful of superstars who didn’t hesitate to throw dirt on the company’s higher-ups after jumping ship. However, Jericho isn’t one of them. Surprisingly, going against the crowd, Y2J maintained good terms with the company even after joining AEW. During a past episode of Saturday Night Special, the former world champion detailed how he missed his old promotion.
Jericho noted, “Honestly, my interactions with Vince. I really, really enjoyed working for Vince McMahon because he challenged me. He challenged me as a professional. He challenged me on my ideas. It wasn’t easy and at the end of the day, its Vince’s ice cream shop, as Pat [Patterson] would say, and you’re living in it,”
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Also, he even appeared in WWE’s Broken Skull Sessions hosted by Stone Cold Steve Austin while being part of rival AEW.
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However, considering the current move of WWE, we are not sure how it will impact their relationship with the former asset of the company, Chris Jericho.
What’s your take on the lower ranking of Chris Jericho on the recent WWE’s greatest debuts of all time list? Let us know in the comments.