AEW All Out: Chris Jericho should beat Hangman Page for the World Title

AEW All Out will resonate from Chicago on Labor Day weekend. The featured match-up, among many spectacular bouts, will be the main event to decide AEW’s inaugural World Champion.

The bout will feature rising star Adam ‘Hangman’ Page and Chris Jericho. Jericho shouldn’t need much of an introduction, his resume outside of AEW speaks for itself.

Chris Jericho is not a stranger to making history. His list of accolades run about as long as the amount of gimmicks the man has held throughout his near 30-year career. Jericho was an ECW World Television Champion, multiple time WCW Cruiserweight Champion and WCW Television Title holder.

His biggest career accomplishments, however, are these: WWE Grand Slam winner and the first Undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion. He defeated the two of the most popular WWE Superstars of the last 20 years to earn that right. Those men, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, were defeated by Jericho on the same night. That immediately catapults you onto an iconic, Mount Rushmore like pantheon of legends.

I know what many of you are thinking: Why would you make Chris Jericho, a near 50 year old performer at the twilight of his career, AEW’s first World champion? It would be better suited for someone like his opponent, Hangman Page, right? A burgeoning young star who can grab the proverbial bull by the horns and lead All Elite Wrestling.  AEW is making a splash onto cable television in early October. 

That sentence is the exact reason why Chris Jericho should walk out of Chicago, Illinois as the inaugural AEW World champion.

All Elite Wrestling will be nine months old the day after All Out airs on Pay-Per-View on Aug. 31. AEW has been built so far by a large social media contingency whom follow the ‘Being The Elite’ YouTube series, which chronicled the wrestling journey of now AEW Executive vice presidents Kenny Omega, Nick and Matt Jackson.

It has attracted many hardcore wrestling fans who have stuck with professional wrestling for a long time. Fans that are reading this article have likely stuck with wrestling through the WWE Invasion angle of 2001 and beyond. As soon as the Attitude Era had passed with the turn of the century, many folks walked out on wrestling, along with that brand of ‘sports entertainment’.

AEW is looking to attract many wrestling fans as they debut their weekly, episodic television series on TNT this Fall. Their brand is really beginning to take off as they have been featured in press conferences, photo shoots and gaining worldwide recognition through various media outlets.

If you’re looking to make a statement globally, you should gain attention by putting your prized possession in the hands of an already established commodity. Chris Jericho is a name that people are familiar with. He was on top of the world in the most famous era of professional wrestling, has written a New York Times best selling book and has a top ranked podcast. Jericho is an established name who can jump start AEW as it makes it way to big time cable television.

With that said, All Elite Wrestling is attempting to stand out. To prove they are a better alternative than the product that the WWE trots out. Amazing talent that people may not have heard of will be a large part of the product. Guys like Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara, The Lucha Bros and Jack Evans. Female talent such as Britt Baker, Nyla Rose and Kylie Rae are names that likely don’t ring a bell with the average person on the streets.

These men and women will now bring their extraordinary talents to a larger scaled audience in the Fall. They will steal shows and keep viewers coming back to watch on a weekly basis.

Yet, it takes established superstars to open the door and bring a large fan base in with them. Chris Jericho is the most well known superstar on the AEW roster. He still brings a charisma, developed character and veteran presence that is needed on set of All Elite Wrestling’s jump from ‘T-shirt company’ to a professional wrestling empire.

When a new wrestling company bursts onto the scene, a once in a generation talent is synonymous with being the first World Champion in their respective company’s history. Lou Thesz was the first NWA Heavyweight Champion. Buddy Rogers was the first WWE Champion. When the WCW broke away from the NWA, Ric Flair was its first title holder.

Those three men are considered to be the greatest wrestlers of their generation. Adam ‘Hangman Page is an excellent performer, but I don’t see him being a flag bearer for a major wrestling promotion just yet.

Chris Jericho would be the ideal man in this situation to become the 1st AEW World Champion.  Have him hold the title for six months to a year, bring in more eyes to AEW. Both new and old fans of the sport will tune in to see who can knock off Jericho. You can then build up Hangman Page as a main event player that is worthy of defeating a living legend to become the AEW World Title holder.

Over the course of time, AEW can and potentially will prove to be a more than capable alternative that can go head to head with the WWE as a prime time wrestling company. You have men and women such as Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley, Scorpio Sky, Sadie Gibbs and Bea Priestly who are waiting to show the World what type of ability and exciting skills they can bring to a Global audience.

In my opinion, Adam Page doesn’t possess the name or the ‘IT’ factor (yet) to bring more fans to the All Elite Wrestling product who wouldn’t watch otherwise. What better way to draw mainstream coverage and deliver a groundbreaking headline than Chris Jericho becoming the first AEW World heavyweight champion?

In turn, this could ultimately cement his legacy as the greatest professional wrestler of all time.