Chris Jericho Says He Recruited Jon Moxley, Reveals What He Told AEW Regarding War With WWE

AEW world champion Chris Jericho set aside "a little bit of the bubbly" to speak with Mature Audiences Mayhem about his role in the growing force that is AEW.

Jericho made note of the stars he has procured for AEW, including Sammy Guevara and Jon Moxley, formerly Dean Ambrose in WWE.

"If not for Chris Jericho being involved, maybe we don't get the deal with TNT," Jericho speculated. "We don't get Jon Moxley, who I recruited, or Sammy Guevara, Dean Malenko, a couple of guys you haven't even seen yet. So I think that, maybe [I'm] not the greatest of all-time, but the best longevity at staying at the top level in all of these different eras and influencing quite a few of them, I don't know if there are too many people who have done that as much as I have."

Jericho also believes that he deserves credit for the steady pay raises that WWE superstars were receiving once he was officially announced as a part of the AEW roster. He now considers AEW and WWE at war with one another, and points to McMahon's willingness to pay his superstars more as a sign of things to come.

"I had no intention of wrestling anywhere other than for Vince McMahon, and then the Japan thing came up," Jericho explained. "I basically got Vince McMahon's blessing and got his blessing to sign on for more shows. When the AEW thing came out, I told him the offer and he said for me to take it. I took it and when I told him, he said, 'You took it? Can you get out of it?' I said that you told me to take it. You didn't match it, you didn't try. Once I signed, suddenly everyone gets double raises because he doesn't want anyone to leave. So just because of that alone, I now made everyone in the business double what they were making. And for that, I demand a thank you."

"They might not think we're competition or they may not say it, but I told the guys that we are in a war. And they respond with, 'Well, we don't want a war,' but I said, 'Too f–king bad, you're in it because Vince McMahon is now opening up his pocketbooks.' Which he should have done before because he can afford it, but these guys that are now making $400,000-$500,000 a year that would make $40 on an indie show," Jericho continued. "But he doesn't want anybody to leave, so that's how you know. I told them that they have to be ready because this is Vince McMahon about ready to fight back, and I told Cody Rhodes a couple of days ago that, 'Winter is coming.' If you are a Game of Thrones fan, they're coming. You might think that it might not be back, but when we're lined up against a wall, they're coming, so they better watch out because it's going to be a war. I have been in a war before during The Monday Night Wars in 1998-1999."

You can listen to the full podcast here. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Mature Audiences Mayhem with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Peter Bahi contributed to this article.