Chris Jericho On If AEW Signed Luther Because They Are Friends
On a recent episode of the Talk Is Jericho podcast, Chris Jericho brought on one of his oldest and closest friends Luther. They talked about Luther's process into signing with AEW that included him being looked at as being a potential candidate to be the leader of The Dark Order.
Those plans were nixed, and Luther was test screened with AEW Chief Brand Officer Brandi Rhodes. Luther talked about being part of the group and some of the difficulties he faced since AEW is not fully committed on intergender wrestling.
"I was still trying to see where I fit in with that a little bit at the beginning. I still think that it was a good idea with that group," Luther affirmed. "It was tough for me being in the women's division because I couldn't really touch or do anything with the girls.
"Right, you were kind of just this mascot," Jericho added. "I thought it was cool that at least there was a spot for you because it did at least get you on camera. Like we said, from December 4-10 to March 11th, there was a lot of tests that you had to pass to get signed.
"Yep, just did everything I needed to do, everything that was asked, which is what I still do," Luther noted. "All the time, and yeah, anything thrown at me, I just totally did my best."
Jericho revealed on Instagram that Luther signed with AEW sparking some fans to criticize Jericho for using his influence to get his friend signed. Jericho and Luther pointed out that if it was that easy, then Luther would have been in WWE, or he would have been at AEW from the beginning.
Jericho said, "It wasn't made easy for you.
"It was not," Luther stated. "Right, which is 100 percent the opposite of what everybody online thinks. The only time I say anything to anybody is if that was the case, I would have been in WWE a long time ago. End of story.
"Yeah, or you would have been in AEW October 2 when we debuted in 2019," Jericho added.
Jericho and Luther talk more about how Luther earned his spot through the work that he has been doing and the audition process that he went through. Jericho revealed that he has only brought in five people into AEW who have a proven track record.
Luther noted, "one thing I said, right off the bat and I've said it to everybody that I know, is I respect this more than anything because I feel like I earned it.
"I know what you can do, and when people see this guy come in, who's this guy? I would go talk to Jim Ross, Excalibur and Taz like here's his story," Jericho explained. "Here's what he's done, and that's all you gotta say. Let him do the rest. So I thought it was just really cool that you really did earn it.
"I brought in five guys here: [Jon] Moxley, Dean Malenko, Matt Hardy, Jake Hager and you. That's it. That's a pretty good f–king track record. It's not like, 'oh here's so and so that's been on TV once and just sits backstage and eats catering.' That's not what you would want or I would want."
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.