So AEW fans were subject to quite a few surprises on AEW’s Revolution on Sunday night (it will go down as a big night in the entirety of the industry of pro wrestling), and those surprises didn’t at all come to an end by the time we rolled into Dynamite last night. A huge surprise was the firing of Tully Blanchard by FTR—perhaps a face turn for Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler is now imminent.
A massive occurrence in the debut of Jeff Hardy, but that was perhaps expected by one and all….
The TNT title changed hands (Scorpio Sky defeated Sammy Guevara), and what was perhaps most shocking occurrence from last night was the formation of a brand new faction at the very capable hands of Chris Jericho.
He feigned an attempt at shaking Eddie Kingston’s hand, who had defeated him at Revolution, and after they got attacked by 2point0 and Daniel Garcia and Santana and Ortiz came to the ring to help, it all turned, as we saw Jericho attack his old friends and former members of the Inner Circle, Santana and Ortiz, with a bat, thus securing quite the heel turn for one Chris Jericho.
Jake Hager would enter and also fake support for his old friends and Jericho’s, but he made it clear that he was on Jericho’s side soon enough.
Of course we know all of this already, but hey, a little reviewing of the facts never hurt anyone, so bear with me.
In this piece, let’s take a look at what can come of this new faction.
So yeah, the Inner Circle is kaput and from the looks of it, The Pinnacle might soon follow the same fate, but that of course remains to be seen. As far as Jericho and his new friends are concerned, the players involved seem to fit very nicely together.
Jericho’s achievements in the business need no mention here. He is a legend and I’ll leave it at that. Jake Hager is just under Jericho if you ask me. Often silent and brooding, his actions and achievements speak for themselves.
As for Daniel Garcia—perhaps the next Bryan Danielson in my eyes—a young talent that is ‘bringing it’ in every sense of the term.
2point0 are phenomenal talents from Montréal…they’ve been at this a long time and even way before NXT. They of course cut their teeth in IWS, a Montreal promotion of renown, and still make appearances on that platform. They worked the indies extensively as well.
via TNT /YouTube
They had trouble in WWE/NXT and get this, for being ‘too pro wrestling,’ as they’ve claimed since their release. That relationship ended, quite obviously, and in AEW they have proved that shenanigans and funny antics aside, these boys came to play and they’re willing to offer anyone and everyone who gets in their way “…a taste! You want a taste?!”
That we do, I guess.
The cons
There aren’t at all many of these, but we’ve got to analyze every facet of this, so bear with me. The only con I can see is that Jericho and his previous faction had a great run…a meteoric run of epic standards. There is a slight possibility that fans might wonder if another faction for Jericho was the right move.
The pros
Hey…the sky’s the limit, even if a Jericho faction has been done before. Besides, it works…factions work and they have worked in pro wrestling since I don’t know…the dawn of the Four Horsemen (1985) and perhaps even before that with The First Family led by Jimmy Hart in Memphis during the late seventies.
And with Jericho at the helm, this thing can only be a positive thing overall for the young members in the group. This means more storylines and matches moving forward for 2point0 and Garcia, which is a great thing overall. Epic matches to follow for sure and on all fronts.
Jake Hager is in phenomenal shape and so is Jericho. He’s dropped a lot of weight and is looking tremendous. He’s got quite a few angles to come…perhaps a rematch with Kingston.
And who knows, maybe now, Santana, Ortiz and Kingston can form a new faction of their own in response to what went down on Dynamite. More matches to come in that vein as well if that does occur.
So in the end, I guess the pros outweigh the cons here, dear readers. Looking forward to the mayhem that the Jericho Appreciation Society can unleash. Stay tuned, dear readers.
