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Chris Jericho, known for his incredible talent and versatile personas, has had a career filled with memorable moments and characters. Known to reinvent himself according to the time from Lionheart to The Codebreaker; Y2J to The Painmaker he had done it all. However, his latest gimmick "The Learning Tree" stands out as a particularly misguided attempt for now.
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#chrisjericho #y2j #aew #allelitewrestling #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
Play now to find out - https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/brainbuster-wwe-player-guessing-game
Chris Jericho, known for his incredible talent and versatile personas, has had a career filled with memorable moments and characters. Known to reinvent himself according to the time from Lionheart to The Codebreaker; Y2J to The Painmaker he had done it all. However, his latest gimmick "The Learning Tree" stands out as a particularly misguided attempt for now.
You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe
#chrisjericho #y2j #aew #allelitewrestling #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
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00:00Chris Jericho. He has done it all in pro wrestling. He has a storied career, well
00:06worthy of a Hall of Fame spot spanning over three decades, across numerous
00:10promotions with numerous titles and variations of different characters along
00:15the way. From his early days as Lionheart, traveling the world and kicking ass in
00:20ECW, until he broke big with Monday Night Jericho in WCW, to becoming the
00:27iconic Y2J in WWE and later La Champion in All Elite Wrestling, Jericho's
00:33ability to adapt and innovate over time has solidified his status as one of the
00:39greatest and most influential wrestlers in the industry. There could be an issue,
00:43let's get into it. It's Sportskeeda Wrestling, I'm Kevin, let us know what
00:48you think of Chris Jericho's learning tree in the comments below. His latest
00:53reinvention, the learning tree, has been questionable in the eyes of some
00:58watching AEW. The concept of this gimmick is simple, Jericho positions
01:03himself as a veteran mentor, yes yes yes, who basically diminishes the
01:10accomplishments of younger superstars, claiming to guide and teach the next
01:14generation of wrestlers, while at the same time trying to elevate himself in
01:19all of it. Sounds good, right? Well, since introducing the character a few months
01:23ago, Jericho hasn't really had the momentum he's had with previous
01:28successful characters he's created and ran with before. Before we talk about why
01:33it may not be working, we must get into the bottom of why and how it started.
01:38Jericho was teaming with the best bout machine Kenny Omega in late 2023, they
01:43even defeated the Young Bucks at the Full Gear Pay-Per-View to earn a tag team
01:47title shot against Ricky Starks in Big Bill. However, before the title match
01:52could take off, it was revealed that Kenny Omega would be taking a significant
01:56period of time out of in-ring action to battle a serious case of diverticulitis.
02:02So the tag team of these two big personalities was no longer, Jericho was
02:07left alone and was trying to find direction. In the meantime, fans started
02:12booing Chris, even though he was sort of a fan favorite at that time, but serious
02:17allegations against Chris Jericho and outside-of-the-ring behavior surfaced
02:22online, will clarify that no legal action has been taken against him, though that
02:27didn't stop the conversation from being negative. In early 2024, with that
02:31sentiment in the air, Chris Jericho found himself in a very weird place and wasn't
02:36giving the respect that he once did, and that's when he decided to run with it
02:41and work with the young upstart talent in Hook. He started teaming with the young
02:46handsome suplexing devil who was the FTW champion and took him on in a mentor
02:52role during their alliance. However, he later blamed Hook for not listening to
02:57him and costing their trios match against Shane Taylor Promotions. Then he
03:02offered to guide Hook truly, sharing his knowledge and experience in the
03:07wrestling world. However, Hook wasn't interested in his mentorship and rebuffed
03:13his advances. The tension between them escalated, ultimately leading to a
03:17highly-anticipated match, highly questionable, at AEW's Dynasty event. The
03:22stakes were high and in a hard-fought battle, though, Jericho emerged
03:27victorious, using his wit and craft to defeat Hook and capturing the FTW
03:33championship. The victory was a significant turning point in the storyline.
03:38Following the big pay-per-view win, Jericho took the FTW championship and
03:42gave it a slightly new identity. On the April 24th episode of Dynamite, he
03:46renamed it the For The World Championship. Yeah, it was called The World
03:52before, if you remember old-school ECW. This is when the learning tree gimmick
03:57really started. He began to disingenuously and arrogantly offer quote-unquote
04:04advice and guidance to other wrestlers, positioning himself as the ultimate
04:10mentor in AEW. This is far from a selfless act. Jericho's advice was
04:15esoteric and condescending and ultimately self-serving, designed to
04:20elevate his own status rather than genuinely helping others, something he
04:25had done in previous factions in AEW. His actions and attitude officially
04:30turned him into a heel once more in the eyes of fans who were already booing
04:35him. However, he believed he was a face, yes, offering valuable mentorship.
04:41I'm not the bad guy, you're bad for not listening. He then started a feud
04:47with Katsuyori Shibata and successfully defended the FTW championship against
04:51him on the May 1st episode of Dynamite. The victory didn't come without
04:55controversy as Jericho had some unexpected assistance from Big Bill. Yeah,
05:01the same towering Big Bill who was supposed to defend his tag team titles
05:05with Ricky Starts months earlier against Jericho and his former partner Omega.
05:11However, following the match, Jericho brought Bill into the learning tree,
05:15officially starting the gimmick essentially as a stable. Fast forwarding to
05:19the highly anticipated May 26th double or nothing premium event, Jericho
05:24defended his FTW title in a triple threat against Hook who was out for
05:29revenge and Shibata. Once again, Jericho snuck away with a victory, but this
05:35time he had the help of another ally in Brian Keith, another breakout young
05:41superstar in AEW's ranks. With Keith's assistance, Jericho solidified his hold
05:47on the championship and welcomed Keith as the newest member of the learning
05:51tree, or the newest branch of the learning tree. Oh boy. As the weeks went
05:57by, Jericho's faction continued to evolve. On the June 12th episode of
06:01Dynamite, Jericho gave Big Bill and Brian Keith their new monikers. The
06:05Redwood for Big Bill, cause the redwood is like a tree, and the Bad Apple for
06:11Brian Keith, cause apples grow on trees. While Jericho giving nicknames of his
06:17protégés is nothing new, we have seen this back in the inner circle where he
06:21called Sammy Guevara the Spanish God and the Jericho Appreciation Society
06:26where he changed the identities of Daddy Magic and Angelo Parker. It's very
06:30Jericho-esque. He started cutting these cringey promos that always opened with
06:34Hey guys! Yeah, as a trademark. It's pretty funny, but also very annoying. He
06:40got his teeny time with the learning tree segments on Dynamite, and we learned
06:46something. Now on paper, this new character, this new gimmick, sounds like
06:51something that could work in the very capable hands of Chris Jericho. And when
06:55Jericho was facing some issues with the crowd, he introduced a gimmick that
06:59made fans hate him even more. What could go wrong? Speaking with KCAL News,
07:04Jericho talked about the gimmick, stating that he started doing this because
07:08fans were hating on him. He said,
07:11People are really not liking me right now, so it's time to kind of change. And
07:16that's okay. That's the beauty of wrestling. You can just lean into it. I
07:21take great pride in kind of making people angry with things because that's
07:25what you want to do. You're playing a character. However, despite the gimmick
07:30having so much potential, as of now, Jericho and the Learning Tree group
07:36haven't gained the momentum you think you would want them to have, or the
07:40intentions may not be met in reality, based on who you talk to. In fact, it is
07:46proving to be one of the more underwhelming things right now within AEW.
07:52Now, Jericho is doing just fine. He's good at being a heel. He's doing his job.
07:56His segments are entertaining, and it's just the fans don't care beyond a
08:01certain level. It's getting on base, but it's not making a home run. When
08:05Jericho won the FTW Championship at AEW Dynasty, he was supposed to receive a
08:10negative response as a heel, a villain. But the chants from the crowd went much
08:15further than that, and it went in the please-retire-go-home-Jericho-go-home
08:21chants. Yeah, it was purely negative, overzealous fans who really ran with it
08:27to some degree. And getting booed by fans is great, but this is a different
08:31type of heat, if you will. This same vocal minority is continuing to stay loud
08:37during these segments, but anyone could mix that up as, hey, you got heat,
08:42they're not quiet. And at the same time, there's some people that simply say,
08:46everything with Jericho in AEW is becoming super repetitive, and typically
08:50ends the same way. He loses one match, he wins another one, he loses one again.
08:55Yeah, it's the same fickle type of fans you have to deal with at any wrestling
08:59show who think their fantasy bookie needs to play out in the ring. We're used
09:03to that as well. We're gonna hear from you in the comments, I assume.
09:06Another reason why fans are so cold on Jericho and the Learning Tree gimmick
09:10overall is that fans kind of know that this is not going to last that long.
09:15In AEW, Jericho has previously formed two different groups, the Inner Circle
09:19and the Jericho Appreciation Society. Both those factions had some very memorable
09:24moments, but eventually Jericho moved on along with everyone else in the group,
09:27leaving them behind in some ways. Also, no one involved in those groups maybe
09:31benefited long-term, depending on how you want to interpret it. They got teamy
09:36time, spent a lot of it with Jericho, but after that, they went their separate
09:39ways, and here we are. Except for maybe Sammy Guevara, but that's a different
09:44video. Maybe we'll work with them in the future as those things unfold.
09:47Maybe some fans believe the outcome of the Learning Tree could be different.
09:51There's no denying that Jericho is certainly creative, and has always been
09:55creative, and he's constantly trying to bring out new layers to his character.
09:59But it has come to a point now where he has become not as interesting in the
10:04eyes of some as he once was, depending on who you talk to. Fans, the problem
10:11with Jericho is not himself. It's the fact that AEW focuses on him so much
10:17when they don't need to. He's Chris Jericho. He's a big enough star. Now,
10:20when does the rub actually stay on other people? When does the star dust make
10:27stars? They have overexposed him to a point that even his diehard fans maybe
10:33aren't with it. The please retire chants. They're shallow, but they're still harsh.
10:39Many fans would agree that Jericho could benefit from maybe being less is more,
10:43and being a featured player, but we don't hold the pen, and we don't have that
10:47power. We're not ready to make a final judgment on the Learning Tree just yet.
10:51Yeah, we're not Judge Judy banging the gavel. The jury is still out. There's
10:56still time for this to succeed. Many other factions and acts like this that
11:01were a big testy idea found their way eventually and galloped in the wrestling landscape.
11:08However, if fan interest remains where it is, it will be challenging for this storyline
11:13to have long-term success. What do you think? What, for you, is the most interesting thing
11:20on all the wrestling television right now? Tell us your favorites. Tell us what you
11:24think of the Jericho Learning Tree in the comments below.