Chris Jericho has gone by many monikers in the expanse of his AEW career, "Le Champion," "The Demo God" and more recently, "The Influencer," and the AEW fans have always gone along for the ride, chanting his name and singing his "Judas" theme song at every one of his appearances. With the creation of his new group called the Jericho Appreciation Society and dubbing himself a "sports entertainer," however, Jericho has effectively become persona non grata among the AEW faithful for perhaps the first time since his arrival in the company.

Sports entertainment is defined by Wikipedia as "a type of spectacle which presents an ostensibly competitive event using a high level of theatrical flourish and extravagant presentation, with the purpose of entertaining an audience" and is the term that Vince McMahon has used for over two decades to define and justify his business aspirations and direction for WWE. To the hardcore wrestling fan, however, it's considered heresy to the more competitive aspects of the professional wrestling dogma, and the AEW fans and their fondness for ultra-athletic high-flying, lethal strikes and in-ring technical mastery is no different.

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Jericho came out with his new faction of "Daddy Magic" Matt Minard, "Cool Hand Edge" Angelo Parker (formerly 2point0), Daniel Garcia and Jake Hager in tow on the 2022 "St. Patrick's Day Slam" edition of AEW Dynamite, putting over each member's credentials and why they had such "appreciation" for Jericho and the effect he had on their careers. He then made it clear that his turning on his former Inner Circle cohorts Santana and Ortiz, as well as Eddie Kingston, stemmed from an overall lack of respect and appreciation from them, the entire AEW roster and even the fans themselves, who he felt spent as much time insulting him online as they did singing along to his music. Jericho would then go on to say that he and his group don't identify with the rest of the AEW roster because that roster consists of "just...professional wrestlers," people Jericho laments as those who have never achieved legendary status, fame or millions of dollars. Rather, the people Jericho believes have achieved that kind of success are the ones who identify as "sports entertainers" and he considers himself one of them having done just that, declaring that the "era of the sports entertainer" has arrived in AEW to perhaps the most resounding chorus of boos Jericho has received in his AEW career.

The formation of Jericho's "sports entertainment" group, particularly the inclusion of Garcia, comes at a most interesting time. The union of Jon Moxley and "The American Dragon" Bryan Danielson has finally come together under the banner of their longtime mentor William Regal, with the goal of all three veterans being to usher in a new era of their own, one of technical in-ring mastery and violence, while looking to cultivate the new generation of professional wrestlers in AEW by recruiting up-and-coming talents like Wheeler Yuta or Garcia. The clash of in-ring styles and professional mindsets would make for an interesting feud, if such an encounter were to occur.

The Jericho Appreciation Society certainly brings a unique flavor to AEW in 2022 as a group that refuses to identify with what makes AEW popular in the eyes of millions of fans and viewers. It also provides a new chapter for Jericho in his storied career as his time with the Inner Circle had come to a close. By aligning himself with fresh talent in the former 2point0 and Daniel Garcia, as well as getting himself back into the best shape wrestling fans have seen him in years, Jericho is ready to start anew as one of AEW's top heels once again.

There are some critics who are rolling their eyes at the seeming overuse of the "sports entertainment" term, seeing it as yet another thinly-veiled negative take by AEW on WWE's less-than-desirable creative tendencies and lack of direction for its talent, or they simply feel that the JAS is a mere rehash of Jericho's previous group The Inner Circle, and Hager being kept on as Jericho's silent "Hand of the King" seems to reinforce that latter notion. Time will tell, however, as to what the true machinations of Jericho and his "appreciation society" are and what it means for AEW's future.

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Source: All Elite Wrestling