Chris Jericho slammed the WWE for its poor treatment of wrestling icons like Sting and Paul Wight, both of whom recently signed new deals with AEW.
"These are guys that were kind of almost insulted in their WWE runs," Jericho told Digital Spy. "[Sting and Wight were] definitely not treated with too much respect over the last few years."
Jericho added that in the AEW, "legends" are treated respectfully.
"...We don't make jokes out of them and WWE is notorious for that," he continued. "Whether it's Sting, Paul Wight, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Jake Roberts, Dustin Rhodes."
The wrestler further emphasized the importance of making wrestlers who perform under the AEW banner "look great," noting, "If they aren't worthy of being in AEW why would they be there?" He continued, "Everybody's that's under contract in AEW is there and designed to be as much of a star as they possibly can be."
Jericho also spoke about the details of Wight surprise signing with AEW, noting, "He was considered to be a WWE tentpole, one of the foundations of the company but they weren't really using him."
"But I know the value of [Wight], he's got one thing you can't teach, experience and who he is as a character, understanding comedy, drama and when to be violent," Jericho continued. "I also know that he's a great mentor for some of our bigger guys that we have, Lance Archer and Luchasaurus, those types of guys and most importantly I know how dangerous a motivated Big Show can be."
Per Jericho, Sting will debut at AEW Revolution, where he will team up with Darby Allin to take on Team Taz. "What a surprise it was to bring him in and also another shock," Jericho recalled. "Here he is getting planted on a powerbomb from Brian Cage and then doing a great Stinger Splash and the Scorpion Death Drop, he's got a lot left in the tank."
Jericho has been with AEW since January 2019 and became the inaugural holder of the AEW World Championship in August of that year. Jericho will appear in the AEW Tag Team Championship match at AEW Revolution, between The Young Bucks and Jericho and Maxwell Jacob Friedman's The Inner Circle.
Other matches taking place at the event include Riho & Thunder Rosa vs. Dr. Britt Baker & Rebel, "Hangman" Adam Page vs. Matt Hardy, the AEW Women's Championship and the Casino Tag Team Royale. AEW Revolution takes place on March 7, 2021 at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida, and airs on traditional PPV at 8 p.m. ET.
Source: Digital Spy