Chris Jericho Details Collaborative Approach with Samoa Joe When Adapting Tony Khan’s Creative Vision

Chris Jericho recently shared insights into how he and Samoa Joe approached a creative direction from AEW President Tony Khan that initially didn’t resonate with either wrestler. Rather than dismissing the idea outright, the two chose to collaborate and refine the concept to better align with everyone’s vision.

During an appearance on TMZ’s Inside the Ring, Jericho recounted the experience, emphasizing the importance of professional adaptability in the wrestling industry. Instead of rejecting the proposal, he and Joe chose to rework it into something more compelling.

Jericho explained, “To get longevity in this business, you learn you don’t say no to your boss. You say, ‘Well, how about we try it this way?’ and give an alternative answer to just, ‘No, I’m not doing that.’ Nothing will infuriate your boss more than just saying no.”

He continued, “Whoever was the boss, it’s my job to make him happy with the work that I’m doing. So there’s no boss that’s easy to say no to. But every good boss you collaborate with, and that’s the secret of being a good general and it’s the secret to being a good boss. Tony’s great to collaborate with. Vince was great to collaborate with. I didn’t really have the opportunity to collaborate with Bischoff much because I was too far down the food chain.”

Jericho then described the specific situation with Joe, noting, “I remember I was working with Samoa Joe once in AEW and Tony wanted something and neither one of us felt it. We basically said, ‘Maybe we should think about it,’ or whatever, and Tony, you could tell, he just was very — not disappointed — but he very much wanted us to do this.”

“And the moment he left the room, Joe and I looked at each other like, ‘All right, how are we going to make it work?’ And we had a conversation. We had to reshuffle the deck and move this there and move this there, get rid of this and add this.”

“And then went back and told Tony. He’s like, ‘Oh, that’s so great. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.’ He’s happy and we’re going to make it great. It’s completely different from what we originally wanted to do, but he’s the f—king boss. He’s the one who tells us what he wants.”

“And if you don’t like it, you go make $8 billion and start your own wrestling company. And that’s what a pro does. That’s what you do. And it’s not always the way you want it. But I’m not the boss. I don’t write checks. On the Jericho Cruise, that’s a different story.”

While Jericho didn’t specify when this incident occurred, it’s noteworthy that he and Joe have only faced each other twice in AEW competition. Their most recent encounter was at AEW/NJPM Forbidden Door on June 30, 2024, where Joe, Katsuyori Shibata, and HOOK defeated Jericho, Big Bill, and Jeff Cobb. Ten days later, Jericho emerged victorious over Joe in a Stampede Street Fight at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Prior to their AEW rivalry, Joe and Jericho had two singles matches on WWE Raw in 2017. Joe defeated Jericho by countout on the March 6 episode and again bested him on the April 17 edition of the show.

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