Chris Jericho Crowned First AEW World Champion at AEW All Out

Chris Jericho made history at the All Out event on Saturday night by becoming the first AEW World [...]

By Connor Casey

Chris Jericho made history at the All Out event on Saturday night by becoming the first AEW World Champion. The former WWE Undisputed Champion and wrestling icon defeated "Hangman" Adam Page via a Judas Effect to claim the title.

Page seemed to have the match locked up late when he attempted his second Deadshot finisher. However, Jericho managed to escape it and whip out his spinning back elbow as Page charged at him.

"History made. Remember to thank @IAmJericho. #AEWAllOut"

After wrestling exclusively under the WWE banner off an on from 1999-2017, Jericho first started branching out in 2017 when he kicked off a feud with then-IWGP United States Champion Kenny Omega in New Japan Pro Wrestling. This led to a stellar bout at WrestleKingdom 12, followed by a feud with Tetsuya Naito that resulted in Jericho getting a run as IWGP Intercontinental Champion. Along with a surprise appearance at All In and his Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea cruise event with Ring of Honor, Jericho started inching further and further away from his affiliation with WWE. At the start of 2019 Jericho made major headlines when he appeared at AEW's first official event (a fan rally outside of TIAA Bank Field) and signed a multi-year exclusive contract with All Elite Wrestling.

Jericho won his debut for the company in the main event of Double or Nothing, simultaneously avenging his lost against Omega while also earning a shot at the AEW world title. Page inserted himself into the match earlier that same night by winning a 22-man Casino Battle Royale.

The now seven-time world champion explained why he chose to sign with AEW during an episode of the Talk is Jericho podcast back in January.

"It's a little bit hard because I've worked for WWE for 19 years, love the WWE," Jericho said. :But I put myself into Chris Jericho's shoes from back in 1998 when I was contemplating leaving WCW and thinking, 'How much further can I go in WCW under these rules? Under these conditions?' And I realized I probably can't go much farther.

"After some introspection, the answer was 'Yes I can do this.' Because what AEW is doing is they're showing me respect, and they're showing me that they have a lot of expectations for me. The cart is on my back, I have to do great work and I have go the extra mile to make this work."

Jericho is booked to compete on the first episode of AEW's TNT show on Oct. 2 at the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. He'll team up with two mystery partners to take on Omega and The Young Bucks

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