Chris Jericho believes AEW has reached a point where the company should no longer be built around him, with the veteran star instead focused on helping establish the next generation.

Speaking with The Wrestling Classic, Jericho discussed his place in AEW nearly seven years after helping launch the promotion. With younger names continuing to rise through the company, Jericho believes that progression is exactly how professional wrestling should work.

“You’re part of the foundation. You’re an MVP to the brand, but there’s an uprising of all these new stars, like Kevin Knight, the Will Ospreays, guys that are moving up to the next level.”

Jericho agreed, explaining that wrestling companies need to constantly create stars capable of eventually replacing the established names.

“Yeah, that’s how the business works. That’s the way it should work, is you build stars that can take over for the next generation.”

The former AEW World Champion was also clear about his own position on the roster.

“You know, the show doesn’t need to be built and shouldn’t be built around Chris Jericho at this point.”

Despite that, Jericho believes his appearances still carry significance with fans, particularly as he enters the later stages of his career.

“But I think anything that I do has some merit and people enjoy watching, because it’s been such a long time and we don’t know how much longer it’s going to be. So I think people are enjoying it more this round as well.”

Two names highlighted during the discussion, Kevin Knight and Will Ospreay, are both set for major matches at AEW All In at Wembley Stadium.

Knight has held the TNT Championship since Dynasty on April 12, when he won a Casino Gauntlet for the vacant title following Kyle Fletcher relinquishing the championship due to injury. Knight has since recorded more successful defences than any previous TNT Champion, including a victory over Jericho on the August 12 edition of Dynamite from the Pearl Theater in Las Vegas.

Knight will defend the championship against Darby Allin in a Falls Count Anywhere match at All In.

Ospreay, meanwhile, will challenge Kenny Omega for the AEW World Championship in the main event. Omega captured the title from MJF during the July 8 Beach Break edition of Dynamite.

Jericho also praised AEW for giving him opportunities to work with different opponents rather than relying heavily on repeat matches.

“It’s fun to work with people that I’ve never worked with before. There’s a lot of great young guys on our roster. And there’s a lot of guys I could have great matches with that I’ve worked with before in AEW. We don’t do a lot of repeat matches. That’s the thing.”

He added:

“I mean, I worked with Will Ospreay once. I worked with Kenny Omega once, maybe twice in AEW.”

Jericho faced Ospreay at All In 2023 at Wembley Stadium, with Ospreay picking up the victory. Jericho also faced Omega in the main event of AEW Double or Nothing in 2019, the promotion’s first pay-per-view. Jericho won that encounter before eventually becoming the inaugural AEW World Champion.

Jericho returned to AEW television in April following nearly a year away from the company. During his absence, there had been widespread speculation surrounding a possible return to WWE.

However, Jericho confirmed his AEW future by signing a new multi-year contract the following week. He has since been competing as Painmaker Chris Jericho and defeated Tommaso Ciampa in a No Holds Barred match at Redemption in Montreal in July.

Jericho has also recently spoken about AEW’s overall position within the wrestling industry. He argued that AEW has never attempted to become “WWE-lite” and claimed the company’s audience is stronger than several years ago when streaming figures are included.

Eric Bischoff later challenged those comments on 83 Weeks, pointing to Jericho’s early prediction that AEW could overtake WWE within six months and arguing that AEW has frequently positioned itself in comparison with WWE since launching in 2019.

At 55, Jericho says developing other wrestlers has been an important part of his AEW run from the beginning. He recently recalled recognising that the excitement surrounding him as the face of a brand-new promotion would inevitably have a limited lifespan.

“Chris Jericho is the champion, Chris Jericho is the face of the company, and I’ve got about three months of shelf time before that gets old,” Jericho said. “So we better build as many stars as we can.”

AEW All In takes place at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, August 30.