Matt Hardy, Chris Jericho's Factions Clash on AEW Dynamite

Chris Jericho's attempt to convince Matt Hardy to change his allegiance from The Elite to The Inner Circle did not end well for the AEW's inaugural championship holder.

Wednesday night finished with Jericho and fellow Inner Circle member Sammy Guevara feeling the wrath of chair shots from Kenny Omega and Cody, who rushed to the defense of their fellow Elite member after he was attacked.

The lead-in to that moment involved Jericho failing to convince Hardy to switch allegiances before slapping him in the face. Hardy then knocked down Jericho, who summoned Sammy Guevara for the attack.

That's when Omega and Cody stepped in, and Jericho and Guevara scurried from the ring. The show closed with Hardy waving his arms in conjunction with exploding pyrotechnics in Jericho and Guevara's vicinity.

Hardy was revealed as a member of The Elite in the closing moments of last week's show:

This clearly did not please Jericho, who opened Wednesday night's final segment by imploring Hardy to change his mind.

He first spoke with Hardy's drone, Vanguard 1, to no avail.

Then Hardy appeared in the upper deck of the arena before teleporting down deck by deck until he made it ringside.

Jericho told Hardy that he needed to join The Inner Circle because of his own pull and clout within AEW, citing his ability to create stars. He also noted that Hardy has been in the "shadows" his whole career, whether because of his younger brother, Jeff, or bad booking.

Hardy said his Elite allegiance is related to The Young Bucks, to whom he owed a "debt" because of their resurrection of his "Broken" existence. Hardy also expressed his desire to combat The Inner Circle's "tyranny" over the organization.

The anger slowly rose between the two, with Hardy saying that Jericho was an "evil essence rotten to the core" and Jericho noting the "same old Matt Hardy" was always a step behind and "not quite on top."

Jericho then directly asked Hardy about his decision, and Hardy responded with "Delete!" chants, rejecting The Inner Circle offer:

When it became clear that his arguments proved fruitless, Jericho then slapped Hardy, leading to the close.

Hardy joins The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and Cody in their ongoing feud with The Inner Circle's Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana and Ortiz.