Last night at AEW Worlds End, Chris Jericho tagged with Sting, Darby Allin, and Sammy Guevara against The Don Callis Family, Ricky Starks, and Big Bill. With Sting retiring at AEW’s next pay-per-view, Revolution, this was his penultimate performance at a major event. This historic bout should have served as a special moment for fans to enjoy, but instead, it will likely be remembered for the reaction Jericho elicited from the crowd.
Throughout the match, Jericho was roundly met with boos and chants of “NDA” from the fans. The reason for the reaction stemmed from a social media post I put out earlier this week in response to one from Jericho. The former AEW World Champion was berating CM Punk and Ace Steel’s lawyer, Stephen P New, regarding who did and did not sign NDAs following the infamous AEW All Out brawl. Jericho claimed to have seen the whole thing play out and bragged about how he did not sign an NDA, nor had he ever signed an NDA.
That comment surprised me since I have heard of instances that Jericho was involved in where he and others would likely have signed them. When I asked Jericho about that, he blocked me. From there, various allegations and stories of Jericho being involved in sexual misconduct began to emerge online and led to the fan response at AEW Worlds End.
At the post-AEW Worlds End media scrum, Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Kevin McElvaney was the first to address AEW President Tony Khan about the allegations. McElvaney wanted to know specifically what AEW has done or is doing to combat sexual harassment in the workplace but did not mention Jericho by name.
“It’s a great question, Kevin, and I think it applies to everybody in the company, women and men, and it’s something we’re very serious about, and we’ve had a policy in place,” Khan said. “And certainly, I think any time there’s anything like that, we would make sure we do everything we can to prevent it. AEW has the best safety record, I believe of any pro wrestling company in the world. I believe we have the most safe environment.
“I believe we have the best safety record of any pro wrestling company, and I would hold the record of AEW on safety against any wrestling company in the world, and I think AEW is the safest place for pro wrestling. And if any of our wrestlers ever have a concern, they always have an open line to talk to me. And, you know, I believe anybody would sit here and tell you, they always can talk to me anytime they are concerned about anything.”
Khan’s comment about AEW having the safest workplace environment in pro wrestling was met with some eye-rolling, as it was just three months ago he publicly stated his life was in danger in their locker room. Later in the scrum, Khan was asked more directly about the Jericho allegations by Phil Strum of USA Today.
“Is Chris Jericho, or was Chris Jericho at any time under any internal investigation for sexual misconduct or any other type of misconduct over the course of his tenure In AEW?” Strum asked.
“I can’t speak to internet and unsourced rumors,” Khan responded. “I think I spoke earlier to Kevin and mentioned the policy we have in place and the disciplinary process. We’ve always followed that, and I believe AEW is the safest wrestling company in the world. And we have the best track record for safety. And I would hold it up to anybody.
“And anytime anybody has any kind of complaint, they have an open door again to say it to me or to anyone in the office, and we would look into it anytime. So I, again, Kevin earlier asked about that policy, and I think I, you know, gave a pretty robust answer on that, and it would apply here too.”
The final follow-up question regarding Jericho came from Corey Lee with the Wrestling Observer.
“Can you confirm or deny that there has been an investigation with him, or has there ever been any accusations or anything like that in regards to Chris’s behavior?” Lee posited.
“I can’t speak to that,” Khan reiterated. “I would just say what I had mentioned to Kevin earlier that we have a disciplinary policy, or we have a disciplinary committee that things are referred to and that everybody in AEW, anybody who’s ever wrestled in AEW, has an open line to talk to me or this group, and always has, and that’s how we’ve always acted, and that’s why I believe AEW has the safest environment and AEW is the safest place in pro wrestling and its why AEW has definitely the best safety record in wrestling. And I believe we maintain that. Thank you.”
If you use any quotes from this article, please give a h/t to Haus of Wrestling for the transcription