Chris Jericho reveals why WWE congratulated AEW on debut: ‘Because they’re embarrassed’

Now, former WWE Champion Chris Jericho, who is currently the AEW World Champion, gave his insight on WWE’s congratulatory message and said the Vince McMahon’s company is embarrassed.

The rivalry between WWE and AEW no longer remained a cold war when the latter launched their All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite debut on TNT network at the same time as WWE’s NXT Live on USA Network. The battle between the two professional wrestling bands immediately turned into a war between TV Ratings, and surprisingly, AEW thumped over NXT’s shocking episode which saw the return of former Champions Finn Balor and Tomassa Ciampa.

The rivalry between WWE and AEW is no longer just a cold war. (WWE/AEW)

While AEW gathered 1.4 million viewers during its two hours programming, NXT’s viewership was recorded at 8,91,000 over the two hours.

Immediately after losing the ratings war, WWE sent out a statement to the media outlets, congratulating the rival brand over a successful debut. “Congratulations to AEW on a successful premiere. The real winners of last night’s head-to-head telecasts of NXT on USA Network and AEW on TNT are the fans, who can expect Wednesday nights to be a competitive and wild ride as this is a marathon, not a one-night sprint,” the statement read as per Pro Wrestling Illustrated.

Now, former WWE Champion Chris Jericho, who is currently the AEW World Champion, gave his insight on WWE’s congratulatory message and said that the Vince McMahon’s company is embarrassed.

“Because they’re embarrassed. I know how they work. And the fact is, I haven’t seen the actual rating but I’m assuming they know how it is, and I think we probably kicked their a**. They started this. Everything that they’ve done has been a reactionary move to us. We’re not in a war with anybody besides ourselves,” Jericho said in an interview to 411 Mania.

“I don’t care if you resurrect John and George and it’s the reunion of the Beatles at the Super Bowl or whatever. All that matters is our show. You can put anything up against us, and we can’t compete with that. We can compete with what we’re doing,” he further added.

Jericho further said that WWE started this war and were defeated on the first night. “They kinda started this war, and the very first night they got destroyed. Big deal, it’s our first debut, great. 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 a** because we’re gonna do what we do very, very well. There’s a little bit of an arrogance toward us that’s now gone,” he said.