AEW World Champion Chris Jericho Explains Why He Figured Randy Orton Wasn't Leaving WWE
Le Champion speaks...
It was announced that Randy Orton had signed a new deal with WWE that would take him to the year 2024. This was in spite of recent teases on social media that "The Viper" had been mulling a ump to AEW.
Former WWE star, and current AEW World champion, Chris Jericho spoke with Sportskeeda about Orton's decision to stay with his home of close to two decades, and why that didn't surprise "Le Champion".
"I know this – nobody is getting out of WWE, especially Randy Orton," said Jericho. "Because unless he’s very, very committed to saying ‘I don’t care if you pay me 20 gazillion dollars, I’m leaving’ that’s not what he’s doing. I mean, obviously Vince is going to pay millions and millions of dollars to not have Randy Orton go.
“If you’re using AEW to make more money off of Vince, go for it! That’s great too but it’s not like we’re taking everybody that’s going to leave WWE to come to AEW."
Adds Jericho regarding Vince McMahon's mindset, “The point is that Vince just doesn’t want anybody to leave WWE because it looks like an exodus if they do and makes us look even cooler. We do things our way, we’ve got a great roster of guys and if somebody becomes available that really wants to be with us and we think that they fit our vibe, then we’ll take them.”
Jericho also noted that AEW would have certain interest in available talents, especially one of Orton's caliber, saying, “If a Randy Orton became available and said ‘I’m leaving, I don’t care what’, then I’m sure we’d be really interested in talking to him and we could do great stuff.
"I’ll tell you what; he’ll probably be more over with us in a month than he has been in the last ten years with WWE.”
Former WWE star, and current AEW World champion, Chris Jericho spoke with Sportskeeda about Orton's decision to stay with his home of close to two decades, and why that didn't surprise "Le Champion".
"I know this – nobody is getting out of WWE, especially Randy Orton," said Jericho. "Because unless he’s very, very committed to saying ‘I don’t care if you pay me 20 gazillion dollars, I’m leaving’ that’s not what he’s doing. I mean, obviously Vince is going to pay millions and millions of dollars to not have Randy Orton go.
“If you’re using AEW to make more money off of Vince, go for it! That’s great too but it’s not like we’re taking everybody that’s going to leave WWE to come to AEW."
Adds Jericho regarding Vince McMahon's mindset, “The point is that Vince just doesn’t want anybody to leave WWE because it looks like an exodus if they do and makes us look even cooler. We do things our way, we’ve got a great roster of guys and if somebody becomes available that really wants to be with us and we think that they fit our vibe, then we’ll take them.”
Jericho also noted that AEW would have certain interest in available talents, especially one of Orton's caliber, saying, “If a Randy Orton became available and said ‘I’m leaving, I don’t care what’, then I’m sure we’d be really interested in talking to him and we could do great stuff.
"I’ll tell you what; he’ll probably be more over with us in a month than he has been in the last ten years with WWE.”
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.