When Chris Jericho came back to AEW in April, I figured I’d give him a shot. He had been gone for nearly a year at that point, so his booking was going to feel fresh no matter what, right? Well, he’s entering just his second feud since his return, and it already feels like a new Jericho Vortex. The New Jericho Vortex of Bald, if you will, and it already feels pointless and redundant.
I’m sure it’s because Jericho loves his catchphrases and attempting to get goofy things over, and now, he’s trying to overtake the sickos’ love of chanting “BALD!” at various heels. First, he feuded with Ricochet, which took fans through an oddly booked assortment of babyfaces for the Stadium Stampede match at Double or Nothing, and Jericho’s next bald foe is none other than Tommaso Ciampa.
The pair opened up “Dynamite” tonight, and though the segment lasted about 10 minutes, it felt like it dragged on forever. I guess I thought we’d start out with one of the matches advertised, and I assumed Orange Cassidy vs. Andrade, so I wasn’t prepared for an immediate promo segment, as that’s not usually AEW’s thing.
Ciampa brought out Jericho, who, of course, was nearly immediately silly and called Ciampa “Tommy,” which got the crowd chanting, and it just felt like it got the show off to a slow start. It wasn’t as cute or clever as Ciampa’s previous “List of 1,004 Reasons he Hates Jericho” bit. The segment ended in a pull-apart brawl, and by the end of it, I didn’t want to see Ciampa vs. Jericho any more than I already did. Which was already only a tiny bit, simply because I just really like Ciampa in AEW.
While I think Ricochet is fine after taking the overall loss to Jericho, I don’t want to see Ciampa lose to him. Right now, the “Psycho Killer” feels slightly lost, as there are too many guys in the main title picture, and I guess you can’t have a heel Ciampa feud with a heel Kevin Knight for the TNT Championship. For a company with so many titles, you’d think there would be obvious space to slot Ciampa in for a feud over one.
If Jericho’s whole new thing is just feuding with bald guys on the roster and making up catchphrases to sell t-shirts, I don’t know if I could have thought of anything more ridiculous for him upon his return. Jericho is back to not working for me, and this opening segment just fell really flat.
Written by Daisy Ruth
