Why AEW's Chris Jericho Truly Deserves a Thank You

Chris Jericho deserves a thank you.

No no, I'm not trying to regurgitate his shtick, which has helped him become one of the most popular heels in All Elite Wrestling.

I actually truly believe this man deserves a thank you from everyone remotely involved in the world of professional wrestling in 2019.

While we never truly appreciated the genius that was Jericho during his WCW or early WWE runs, we have to admit we've been absolutely enamored with Jericho for the past few years.

Whether he's putting people on his list, becoming best friends with Kevin Owens; or brutally attacking Kenny Omega at a New Japan press conference. This Jericho renaissance we're in the midst of has been nothing short of extraordinary.

Fresh off becoming All Elite Wrestling's first ever World Champion at 'All Out', Jericho entered the backstage area and proceeded to deliver a word storm that cemented his position as the new promotion's top guy--not that this was ever in doubt, of course.

What followed was one of the most meme-able pieces of content ever produced by a wrestling promo. His 'a little bit of the bubbly' line broke the pro wrestling internet and even made it on a t-shirt which you can officially pick up at Hot Topic.

All of this truly stems from Jericho being unscripted for the first time in over twenty years. What that's done is create quality microphone moments for the painmaker which are causing ripples in the wrestling world.

Immediately following WWE's latest backstage reshuffling, rumors of unscripted promos on RAW and SmackDown started popping up on the wrestleweb.

The National Wrestling Alliance has also taken a seemingly unscripted route when it comes to their talent grabbing the mic.

The premiere of the NWA's newly minted studio show Powerrr brought a pair of incredibly crafted promos from World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis and his main event challenger Tim Storm.

Jericho has helped--and will continue to help--raise the bar.

A little competition never hurt anyone, so much is true for all aspects of business. The world will hang on his every word and you can be sure he'll make everyone around him better in the process.

With the All Elite crew focusing their efforts on the launch of their Wednesday night TNT show Dynamite, having a creatively liberated version of Chris Jericho gives the fans another reason to watch.

Not like you needed more reasons of course; their roster alone is chalk-full of talent ready and willing to produce absolute barn burners on a weekly basis.

Just watch the video above from AEW's second episode of Dynamite. Once again, Jericho proves why he is largely unmatched on the microphone in 2019—seconded only by Becky Lynch with everyone else dragging far behind.

Another masterful heel promo with flawless crowd work, character building and a true understanding of his audience.

The minute the crowd started chanting 'we the people'—a nod to Jake Hager's WWE days—Jericho shut it down by hammering the final nail on what will probably become one of his career's best promos:

Calm down for one second. Calm down for one second. We the people sucks and it's dead and buried. It was a stupid idea from bad creative and all that's gone.

At its core, an a capella Jericho ultimately creates those organic pops we hear during the entirety of that four minute segment.

AEW has also been able to take advantage of Jericho 2.0 by effectively creating social media and YouTube exclusive content which helps build their universe--similar to what the Young Bucks have done with Being the Elite.

Whether he's in front of thousands in the arena and millions watching from home, Chris Jericho is one of the hottest commodities in professional wrestling today.

Without further adieu, thank you Chris Jericho.