AEW will be tempted to put their main title on Adam “Hangman” Page, but putting the belt on Chris Jericho would establish a solid foundation.
As we inch closer to All Elite Wrestling’s second major pay-per-view, All Out, the anticipation has been growing to see who will be the promotion’s first World Heavyweight Champion. The main event for Saturday’s PPV will pit Chris Jericho against Adam “Hangman” Page with the winner being declared the promotion’s first World Champion.
At first glance, the urge for AEW to be an alternative to WWE would seem to indicate that Page would be the logical choice to be the first World Heavyweight Champion. He’s still new to a lot of fans who would be making the switch from WWE to AEW, but would provide a sense of fresh air compared to a promotion that loves to use upper 40 and 50-year olds as the focus of their main championship picture.
However, the correct choice for AEW to build around happens to be a 48-year old legend who wanted to work with Page upon signing with the company. It might not be a popular decision with those who have religiously turned to alternative forms of wrestling, but if AEW wants to start off their promotion on the right foot, giving Jericho the strap on Saturday night is the right move.
Chris Jericho would give AEW’s title big-name recognition
AEW already has a dedicated fan base after just three shows and they don’t even have a weekly TV show for another month. With All Out, this is another stage in which they can set things up for Wednesday nights on TNT. With that, they need to establish names that will sit at the top of the card and draw people in.
While Page is a terrific performer, he hasn’t reached the level of notoriety that Jericho has established throughout his career. Hardcore AEW, New Japan and Ring of Honor fans may already know who Page is, but the casual fans that are channel surfing and stumble upon an AEW ad could be drawn in by a bigger name such as Jericho.
Over a month away from AEW’s first Wednesday night telecast, Jericho is already listed at the top of the card in a six-man tag match with two mystery partners against Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks.
Throwing the belt on Jericho could add an extra layer of prestige to AEW’s first televised main event and give the promotion a legitimate name to work around as they build from the ground up.
Denying Adam “Hangman” Page will get the fans behind him
One of the things AEW needs to do in order to be a successful promotion is learn from the mistakes that their main competition has made above them. While it would be a progressive move to put their main championship on an up and coming superstar such as Page, it could backfire as pushing a rising act way too soon.
An example of this was how WWE handled Roman Reigns at the beginning of his career. Whether you love or hate Reigns, he can put on an entertaining match in the ring and belongs at the top of the card. The only issue is how he’s been booked on his way to his championship opportunites, running through every opponent imaginable with little resistance.
By giving Page the belt too soon, AEW could be creating a duplicate version of Reigns or even peak John Cena, which for a company that describes some potential decisions as “a WWE move,” would be contradictory from what they are trying to establish.
Perhaps All Out will be the big performance that Page needs to push into that mainstream tier that Jericho currently resides in. But by denying him, it gives fans to get behind their rising star before he reaches the ultimate payoff of capturing the AEW Title.
Putting the belt on Jericho gives AEW plenty of options
As we mentioned earlier, putting the title on Jericho would give AEW some name recognition as they move into a prime time television slot. While Jericho would draw people in, it would give AEW a chance to build even more stars against a legitimate champion right off the bat.
By having Jericho as champion, there are several matchups that could be key draws down the road. We already can feel there being an Omega/Jericho III match coming in the future, but what about Jericho vs. Jon Moxley or a Jericho vs. Cody title fight to try to get the on the fence crowd to turn in on Wednesday nights.
Of course, this could all be part of the buildup while Page works his way up the ladder and ultimately gets the rematch he would crave against Jericho for the title down the road. Such should be the goal as AEW attempts to create major title storylines as they continue to push into the mainstream audience they want to target.