Chris Jericho Details His 'Undertaker' Role in AEW (Exclusive)
Chris Jericho has put together a legendary pro wrestling career and will be inducted into multiple Hall of Fames when his career is said and done. But how long will the 51-year-old compete in the ring before he officially retires? PopCulture.com recently caught up with Jericho, who said he's not sure how long he will wrestle, but his role in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is similar to a WWE legend before he retired.
"You don't really think about it," Jericho told PopCulture "I mean, obviously now at 51, there's more years behind me than are ahead of me. But if you would've asked me five years ago where I was going to go, I probably would've said, 'I'll probably stop in the next few years.' But then AEW started and it just rejuvenated everything for me.
"Not that there's any comparison, but I think I'm kind of taking on like The Undertaker role in the WWE for his last few years there. Where every time he does something, it's impactful; it means something. He's a benefit to have in the locker room. He's a leader. He's very experienced. He can tell guys and girls what they're doing right and what they're doing wrong. And it's just a good person to have around your roster." The Undertaker was in WWE from 1990 to 2020. Before he retired, The Undertaker became a mentor and a locker room leader to the current stars on the roster. In his 30 years with WWE, The Undertaker won multiple championships and 25 WrestleMania matches.
Jericho won multiple titles in WWE. Along with being the fourth Grand Slam Champion in WWE history, Jericho was the company's first undisputed champion when they unified the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship in 2001. When Jericho began in AEW in 2019, he became the company's first World Champion. He also became of the group The Inner Circle, who had a memorable Stadium Stampede match with The Elite at Double or Nothing in 2020. But recently, Jericho has been a guy helping out the younger generation of stars making a name for themselves.
"I like that idea of going from the top guy to making new stars, to where now there's a lot of top guys, to being the Babe Ruth of the company, or whatever it may, but not where I'm not contributing at still at a very high level," Jericho said. "So when will I stop? I don't have a deadline on that, but there's a lot more you can do than just being in the ring as time marches on. So I think my presence in AEW will be felt for many years to come, for all those reasons that I just explained, because there's a lot more to do with our company and with Chris Jericho and AEW."