Speaking to ESPN, Chris Jericho said that Vince McMahon knew about All Elite Wrestling the whole time and actually consulted with him before signing with the new promotion.
Jericho, considered to be one of the greatest company men for WWE, said that he shares a great relationship with WWE and with Vince McMahon after nearly two decades there.
“Vince knew about [AEW] the whole time. I didn’t just show up in AEW and say, ‘Here I am, guys.’ It was a conversation that we had, we discussed it and both of us agreed. He was happy for me for taking the contract and I was happy to take it,” Jericho told ESPN.
Jericho wonders now though that probably Vince didn’t realize how much of a “juggernaut” AEW was going to be and might take a different approach about someone doing the same thing as him. “But at the time, he was very happy for me and very agreeable to me going and taking this chance.”
The former Undisputed champion also talked about Jon Moxley and their podcast, saying that a lot of WWE Superstars contacted him and said that they can’t wait to do a similar podcast with him when their deal expires. Jericho’s podcast with Moxley became the most downloaded podcast ever of Talk Is Jericho in a matter of hours.
Jericho put over the man formerly known as Dean Ambrose about how he exited WWE, not burning bridges and finishing up his work there rather than requesting to be released.
“You finish up your work, you finish out, you do what they want to do, you put over who needs to be put over and you move on to the next territory,” Jericho said. “That’s the best way to do business. You don’t walk out, you don’t ask for your release. You don’t quit. You finish out the job that you were contracted and expected to do as a professional. Once that’s done, then it’s up to you. You go where you want to go and do what you want to do. And that’s exactly what Moxley did, and he seems quite happy right now. So hopefully that’s inspirational to other talent in the business.”