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Chris Jericho talks Khan, AEW signings, CM Punk, Vince McMahon and more

Jericho apparently told McMahon he wouldn't sign a contract with another wrestling company in North America, but when the Khans offered him the biggest contract of his career, he couldn't turn it down.

In an interview with Chris Van Vliet, All Elite Wrestling's Chris Jericho talked about the Khans, AEW signings, CM Punk, Vince McMahon, and a lot more.

Jericho knows the wrestling business, as he's wrestled for ECW, WCW, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), WWF/WWE, return to NJPW, and soon AEW. 

If he's not already on it, he is currently scaling the Mount Rushmore of Wrestling with his chisel and hammer. 

Jericho said his decision to sign with AEW was a mix of the right people and timing. 

"You gotta have the right guys," Jericho said. "You have-- I think Shad Khan is the 210th richest person in America or something." 

According to Forbes, Shad Khan is actually listed as the 65th wealthiest person in America, but I don't think Khan will feel slighted by Jericho's miss-count. 

Shad Khan's son, Tony Khan, is a huge wrestling fan. Jericho called him a wrestling expert who, "understands the business."

It's going to require a lot of hard work, but Tony Khan is about to live out a lot of wrestling fans' dream of creating and managing his own wrestling company. 

"[The Khans] have the business acumen, and the timing of six-to-eight top guys whose contracts all ended at the right time," Jericho said. "Most of them household names."

According to Forbes and appearances we saw at the Double or Nothing rally in Jacksonville, AEW has signed the following free agents: 

  • Chris Jericho
  • The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson)
  • Maxwell Jacob Friedman
  • Joey Janela
  • Penelope Ford
  • Christopher Daniels
  • Scorpio Sky
  • Frankie Kazarian
  • Britt Baker
  • PAC
  • B.J. Whitmer (producer)
  • Monty "Billy Gunn" Kipp Sopp (producer)

NJPW's highly-coveted superstar Kenny Omega is also being rumored to be joining AEW, but is still under contract until the end of January. 

Later in the interview with Vliet, Jericho discussed his relationship with WWE's Vince McMahon. Jericho apparently once told McMahon he wouldn't sign a contract with another wrestling company in North America, but when the Khans offered him the biggest contract of his career, he couldn't turn it down. He said McMahon understood, and there is no ill-will between the two. 

Jericho couldn't provide any ground-breaking information on CM Punk, who hasn't been in a wrestling ring since 2014. 

"CM Punk is not so much a free agent as he is a retired wrestler as I understand," he said. "Of course we'd like to have Punk come over." 

Written by First Coast News Digital Producer @ndywillis

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