Chris Jericho is arguably AEW’s top act and the biggest name on the roster since the start of the promotion in 2019.
TBS is also well aware of that value as Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Tony Khan had always planned Jericho vs. Claudio Castagnoli would close out the ROH Final Battle event on December 10. However, Khan did receive a little pushback.
Jericho dropped the ROH World Title to Claudio at Final Battle. Per the report, “[TBS SVP] Sam Linsky and TBS actually were at first against Jericho, as one of the top guys in AEW, appearing on this PPV show.”
Agreement
There was a point where Jericho was scheduled to lose the ROH World Title in the fatal 4-way bout at Full Gear in November to Claudio. However, they ultimately changed it when everyone got on the same page.
The stakes were high for Castagnoli at Final Battle as his future in the Blackpool Combat Club was on the line. The stipulation stated that if Castagnoli would have lost his Final Battle fight, he would have had to join The Jericho Appreciation Society.
Jericho started off his reign by defeating Castagnoli before he defended it against several names, including Dalton Castle, Bandido, and Colt Cabana.