AEW World Champion Chris Jericho On WWE: "They're Embarrassed"
AEW's kingpin not mincing words...
All Elite Wrestling had pretty good reason to feel good about themselves on Thursday, after all the key metrics showed that their debut TV effort, AEW Dynamite, soundly outdid WWE's NXT program on USA Network.
Ahead of the official reveal of the viewership totals, WWE sent out a pre-emptive congratulations to AEW, which downplayed the potential viewership gap and cited the fans of televised wrestling as the true winners.
Many saw the press release by WWE as a strategic attempt to get out in front of the "AEW beats NXT" story, and that includes a former WWE Champion in Chris Jericho.
"They're embarrassed. I know how they work," said Jericho in an interview with Complex Sports. "I haven't seen the actual rating, but I'm assuming they know what it is, and I think we probably kicked their ass."
Added the AEW World champion, "They started this. Everything that they've done has been reactionary to us. We're not in a war with anybody besides ourselves...all that matters is our show.
"They kinda started this war, and the very first night they got destroyed. Big deal, it's our first debut, but they have to come back and say 'it's a marathon and not a one-night sprint.' Who's ever said it's a one-night sprint? It's not a war for us. Now, we're placed in one, and we're gonna kick ass."
Ahead of the official reveal of the viewership totals, WWE sent out a pre-emptive congratulations to AEW, which downplayed the potential viewership gap and cited the fans of televised wrestling as the true winners.
Many saw the press release by WWE as a strategic attempt to get out in front of the "AEW beats NXT" story, and that includes a former WWE Champion in Chris Jericho.
"They're embarrassed. I know how they work," said Jericho in an interview with Complex Sports. "I haven't seen the actual rating, but I'm assuming they know what it is, and I think we probably kicked their ass."
Added the AEW World champion, "They started this. Everything that they've done has been reactionary to us. We're not in a war with anybody besides ourselves...all that matters is our show.
"They kinda started this war, and the very first night they got destroyed. Big deal, it's our first debut, but they have to come back and say 'it's a marathon and not a one-night sprint.' Who's ever said it's a one-night sprint? It's not a war for us. Now, we're placed in one, and we're gonna kick ass."
Written by Justin Henry
In addition to writing lists and commentaries for Cultaholic, Justin is also a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and is co-author of the WWE-related book Titan Screwed: Lost Smiles, Stunners, and Screwjobs.
