Chris Jericho’s AEW Name a Clear Shot at Triple H & Vince McMahon, Here’s Where It Came From

Recently, Chris Jericho has adopted a new persona that has polarized the All Elite Wrestling crowd. After winning the FTW Heavyweight Championship at AEW Dynasty, the professional wrestler adopted the nickname ‘The Learning Tree.’ Since the inception of AEW, Chris Jericho has been a key figure in proceedings. Even being the company’s first world champion. However, over time, his role has evolved into a more secondary focus, focusing primarily on working with younger talent.

Everyone believed that with this new gimmick, his mission has been to collaborate with younger talent. Help propel them forward in the process. In fact, Jericho too emphasized that this approach has had a positive impact. And that many wrestlers have thrived thanks to this collaboration. But what if we tell you that it isn’t the real origin of the gimmick? In fact, it is a shot at the WWE and Vince McMahon. How? Well, let’s find out.

Chris Jericho’s gimmick takes a shot at his former boss

Vince McMahon has become quite an infamous name when it comes to pro wrestling. In early 2024, after Janel Grant publicly denounced Vince McMahon by revealing some disturbing details about his behaviors with her. McMahon was forced to leave all his positions within WWE and TKO. In addition, he put all of his remaining TKO shares up for sale. Confirming that he would not have any kind of relationship with the company.

But it seems like Jericho’s new gimmick takes McMahon into account. The very name “The Learning Tree” is a nickname that Triple H once used to wish McMahon a happy birthday.

A Twitter page by the name of ‘Humble Wrestling’ revealed in a re-tweet that Y2J’s new gimmick is a call out to the former WWE boss. The re-tweet caption read, “So Jericho’s new gimmick is a wink wink insider joke (again) 😭😭😭” while the original post dated August 25, 2020, read, “Happy 75th Birthday to “THE Learning Tree” @VinceMcMahon!” 

Chris Jericho put the FTW Championship on the line in a match against Hook and Katsuyori Shibata at Double or Nothing 2024. In a very interesting Triple-Threat encounter, Jericho managed to retain the title. All thanks to the help of Bryan Keith as Jericho then finished the match with a Judas Effect on Hook. As for Vince McMahon, he is trying to find his way back into the business world.

Vince McMahon aims to start from the ground up again

It seems like Vince McMahon still has plans to continue in business. According to Dave Meltzer on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, McMahon is determined to rehabilitate his image. He plans to continue investing in other companies. But he acknowledges that no one will want to partner with him. At least, as long as Janel Grant’s allegations tarnish his reputation.

“They need to rehabilitate his image enough so that he can do business as a businessman because that’s what he wants to do. Whether it’s wrestling, which apparently from what I’ve been told isn’t wrestling, but he absolutely wants to do this,” remarked the reliable wrestling journalist. At the moment, not many details have been revealed about the progress of Janel Grant’s complaint or the current status of the parties involved. It will be necessary to wait for the next few months to see if Vince McMahon manages to prove his innocence and how this situation develops.

One thing that won’t fade away anytime soon is his impact on the pro wrestling landscape, as evidenced by the reference used by Chris Jericho. What do you make of the origin of Y2J’s newest nickname? Let us know in the comments section below.