Why AEW Made Right Call with Chris Jericho Winning World Championship at All Out

Chris Jericho was always the right option to be the first AEW world champion. Thankfully, he and "Hangman" Adam Page made it interesting along the way during the main event of AEW's All Out pay-per-view Saturday night.

The build to the heavyweight bout between the modern legend and the up-and-coming superstar, and the encounter itself, was a case study in how to make a predictable outcome interesting along the way. Call it a testament to Page's skill just as much as Jericho's.

But there wasn't any justifiable way to go another direction Saturday in Chicago. Jericho has the "legend" tag attached to him above for a reason—the man started in the early '90s and is still going strong, forging ahead as a pioneer in the industry by serving as one of AEW's headline acts as it gears up to compete with WWE.

That paragraph alone explains it on a grand level. Reading it, Page never had much of a shot.

Even better, Page benefits from the short-term angle here. Call it the necessary evil. A certain portion of fans might recoil at the idea of the older superstar getting the win because other companies, like WWE, like to heavily lean on part-time, older talent too.

But context matters, and there is quite a bit of it to consider. AEW is rolling out its cable broadcast in the fall and, as it recently learned, is going head-to-head with WWE's NXT. That means trying to create elbow room to draw in casual fans, especially to the debut episode. As great as Page is and as renowned as he might be to the hardcore AEW crowd, he's not drawing those eyeballs. Outside of those circles, he's an unknown.

Jericho, the WCW, WWE legend who has performed all over the globe? That's the sort of draw AEW needs at the top of its card for the time being.

And this version of Jericho is important too. Arguably nobody in the business can play a better heel than Jericho. This version of his character is overconfident, snarky and surely going to turn it up another notch after becoming the first-ever champion for a promotion he's helped to shape.

That all works toward the long-term outlook. Page is a guy AEW wants as a core of its programming near the top for a long time. It would do him a disservice if he were already crowned champion going into the cable debut.

WWE fans know the drill here. A good recent example is Seth Rollins. He was dynamite on the chase to take down Brock Lesnar. Once he won the top title and got the payoff, he fell off a cliff. A babyface is most enjoyable and diverse when on a chase.

Talk about a chase now too. Page looked like a million bucks in the match with Jericho and was solid in the promos beforehand too. In the ring, he showcased big power and unexpected athleticism.

Now, Page transitions to the biggest chase of his career, the feud that will make it for both him and AEW. He will have fans behind him while getting some wiggle room to introduce himself to new fans and flesh out his character. And once the payoff inevitably happens, it will be worth the wait.

In time, AEW's main event scene will surely transition to faster-paced matches with plenty of creative violence reminiscent of the Cody-Shawn Spears encounter while looping in mainstays like Jon Moxley. Saturday was a little more plodding with a style of its own, yet "necessary evil" isn't a phrase that should chase it.

Jericho-Page, viewed in hindsight through a long-term lens, will likely end up as a legacy moment for all involved. The stage is set in the only way that made sense heading into the transition to television, where everyone on the roster will be gunning for the villainous Jericho, who will do whatever it takes to keep the belt out of his adversaries' hands, all while winking at the onlookers.