Birthday Boy Chris Jericho Has Been Everything AEW Hoped for Ahead of Full Gear

Despite early skepticism from fans over being All Elite Wrestling's inaugural world champion, Chris Jericho has been far and away the best thing to come out of the promotion at this point in its infancy.

Regardless of whether he's mocking his adversaries, leading a faction or having a little bit of the bubbly, The Painmaker always finds a way to make anything he's involved in entertaining. Of course, that has been a constant throughout his entire career, but it has been especially evident since he signed with AEW at the onset of 2019.

Even at 49, Jericho is arguably a hotter commodity now than he has ever been before. Almost everything he's accomplished in the last three years alone have led to him becoming an invaluable asset to AEW.

Jericho's 2016 WWE comeback wasn't expected to be anything out of the ordinary, at least until he turned heel for the first time in several years and engaged in a fantastic feud with AJ Styles. From there, he went on to elevate Dean Ambrose, form an enjoyable alliance with Kevin Owens, and take the wrestling world by storm with a simple list.

That entire run, which included two stints with the United States Championship, laid the groundwork for him to pursue other options and reinvent himself elsewhere. By that point, he had been a stalwart of WWE for nearly two decades, so seeing him in another environment was an exciting prospect for fans across the globe.

Within months of his WWE departure, Jericho returned to his old stomping grounds in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and immediately set his sights on then-IWGP United States Heavyweight champion Kenny Omega. Their no disqualification match at Wrestle Kingdom 12 is easily among the greatest matches he's had in the past 15 years.

Following his surprise appearance at All In in September 2018, Jericho joining All Elite Wrestling was only logical. Sure enough, he was one of the first notable names announced for the promotion upon its launch in early January.

Never one to rest on his laurels, the artist formerly known as Y2J has had an outstanding year with AEW. He avenged his loss to Omega in the main event of AEW's premier pay-per-view Double or Nothing and won the world title by beating "Hangman" Adam Page three months later at All Out.

Not only does Jericho bring new eyes to the product because of his mainstream popularity, he has been a recurring highlight on virtually every episode of AEW Dynamite to date. The video package from this week's installment featuring him and the rest of The Inner Circle mimicking Cody's emotional vignette from a few weeks ago was a prime example of that.

Jericho's 49th birthday on November 9 just so happens to coincide with AEW's Full Gear event, where he'll be defending his coveted title in the main event against Cody. Needless to say, it would be foolish for AEW to have him drop the title so soon given the wave of momentum he's riding at the moment.

The stipulation states that Cody won't be afforded any more opportunities at AEW's top title if he loses, but that doesn't change how him winning would be the wrong call. This could be the last world title Jericho ever holds, and thus, AEW must make the most of it.

The longer he reigns as AEW World champion, the more it will mean when he is eventually defeated for it, specifically by someone who could benefit from a victory over a competitor the caliber of Chris Jericho.

Credit: Lee South/AEW

It was reported soon after Jericho went public with his AEW signing that his deal was worth more than any other he's had in his career. With that in mind, it would have been easy for him to phone it in for his matches and promos, collect a check, and make occasional appearances in between touring with his band, Fozzy.

Instead, he's been everything fans and officials hoped he would be for AEW and so much more. With a seventh world title recently added to his already impressive resume, there's no telling what other heights he'll reach within the promotion in the years to come.

Just when you think he's ready to wind down, Jericho turns the tables and proves that he's far from done with the brilliance he continues to come up with both inside and outside the ring.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is an Endicott College alumnus and aspiring journalist. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.