Chris Jericho has been wrestling for three decades and has plied his trade around the world – and from sold-out stadiums for WrestleMania to small independent shows in front of just a few, there has almost always been a crowd to interact with.
Which means, of course, that the events of the last year for Jericho and All Elite Wrestling – namely no fans for much of the pandemic – have been a shock to the system, but one Jericho had to dig deep into his past to overcome.
“It makes you remember just how important a crowd is. A lot of what we do is based on crowd reaction, kind of like being an improv comic, where if they like something you give them more,” Jericho said wjen he joined Marc Malusis flying solo on Friday’s Moose & Maggie Show on WFAN. “Without the crowd, it was much more regimented – like filming a movie, where you don’t know how the crowd will react. The live element takes you in different directions.”
AEW will hold its third annual Double or Nothing pay-per-view on Sunday, and it will be the first event back with a full crowd inside Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida – which Jericho can’t wait for.
“As I said, it’s one of those things where you just remember how important a full, live crowd is, and a screaming, energetic crowd,” he said. “They’re really a part of the show, getting behind us in our matches, and we feed off that, and being on the road, the crowds are different, too, so you structure your performances accordingly. When that went away, it was still vibrant, but it became a lot more sterile without that hidden element. It really changes how you put together your performances.”
However, Jericho’s match at Double or Nothing won’t necessarily be part of that; he, as part of the Inner Circle, is part of a “Stadium Stampede” Match against Pinnacle, and that cinematic type of match became an AEW staple during the COVID shutdowns.
“Last year, Double or Nothing was supposed to be a sold-out show in Las Vegas, but with COVID, we had to switch to Jacksonville with no crowd, and we came up with Stadium Stampede because our venue is connected to TIAA Stadium,” Jericho revealed. “We created one of the most critically-acclaimed matches of the year with a cinematic match and people enjoyed it, because we gave them a super unique match that was almost like a movie. A year later, that has become one of our calling cards, so people kind of know what to expect – this will be different than last year because Inner Circle vs. Pinnacle is a much different feud, but we put a lot of creativity into it and hope it will be a home run.”
There may be those that want to see how this year’s Stampede tops last year, but to the veteran grappler, it’s now so much about how to top the last one, but how to make it just as great with a different vibe.
“When we did the first Elimination Chamber in WWE in MSG back in 2002, people thought it was great, but then it became ‘how do we top it’ – but now they’ve had more than 30 of those matches,” Jericho said. “You make the first one and see if it’s a success, and if it is, it becomes a tradition, and then you put some different characters and different dynamic in there. It’s not so much topping it as it is topping it in a different way because it’s a different match.”
Jericho, who has had numerous WWE stints over his career and was a multiple-time World Champion there, joined AEW because he was excited for the chance to build a new company that had a unique mix of strong talent, passionate financial backers, and a solid television deal – but over the two years of the company’s existence, they’ve spent more time in COVID restrictions than not.
That hasn’t affected the company’s success one bit, though.
“People can see AEW has a different vibe and a more creative element. WWE is written and overproduced by one person, and that’s fine – that’s how they do things, and they’re very successful,” Jericho said. “Here, everyone has the option to be as creative as they can with matches, promos, and storylines. Things can always evolve, but the overall connecting the dots from one day to the next is planned out. It’s a different dynamic because we know where we’re going and you can plan accordingly, and everyone’s character fits what they want to play, which helps it become more authentic.”
And, because of the lack of crowd, AEW turned their attention for feedback to numbers instead of names.
“You always pay attention to social media because it does give a barometer, but over the last year it became a lot more negative a place, so where we really kept a big eye was the ratings,” Jericho said. “We’d look at the various demos and what quarter hours did big numbers or didn’t do big numbers, and that became more of our focus. Our boss, Tony Khan, is very much an analytics guy, and that came in very handy for us as a barometer for what worked for us.”
That all said, Jericho can’t wait to get back on the road again, including a hopeful trip to the New York area to replace the one that was canceled last spring because of COVID.
“Our first New York-area show was supposed to be at Prudential Center, and we were two weeks away with 12,000 tickets sold before COVID shut us down,” Jericho recalled. “It’s really exciting to see if we can pick that momentum back up when we start touring in July, and get that excitement back in the arenas. It seems like that’s there with our ticket sales so far.”
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