Sting had an undefeated run in AEW and retired with a record of 29-0.
Chris Jericho has faced criticism from some fans who believe he buries talent in AEW rather than putting them over. However, Jake Hager (former World Heavyweight Champion Jack Swagger in WWE), who has closely worked with Jericho in All Elite Wrestling, offers a different perspective.
Hager frequently praises Jericho for his role in bringing him into AEW and including him in The Inner Circle when the promotion debuted on television in October 2019. Hager, who remained aligned with Jericho throughout his AEW tenure, highlighted Jericho’s efforts to elevate new talent, contrasting him with other veteran wrestlers like Triple H and Sting, who he claims have not focused on putting over younger talent.
Hager expressed his frustration that Jericho’s contributions often go unrecognized. He emphasized Jericho’s unselfishness and commitment to building AEW by helping to establish new stars. Hager pointed to the example of Orange Cassidy, whose popularity surged after working with Jericho.
Here’s what Hager said during an interview on No Shave Man Cave:
“Here’s the thing I like about it. Did you see Triple H putting over any new guys? Did you see any top guys, who have been in the business for as long as Jericho, putting over anybody? Did Sting put over anybody? No.
[Chris Jericho’s] trying to build. He understands it. It drives me crazy that nobody talks about this. He’s putting over these guys. He’s putting the stamp on them.
Did he make Orange Cassidy hot? I mean, come on. I’m biased, but I think the fact that he is so unselfish with building this company. Forget about it.”
While Hager is right about Jericho pushing younger talent, he needs to check Triple H’s win-loss record at WrestleMania, especially in the last decade, if he wants to know whether HHH ever put over young talent.
Regarding Sting retiring undefeated in AEW, he wasn’t used as a singles main event star in the company, but still worked with a lot of younger talent and gave them the spotlight with his star power, thus taking them to the next level, even if he was booked to beat them.
During his WWE run before AEW, Sting had two PPV matches and lost both of them (to Triple H at WrestleMania 31 and to Seth Rollins at Night of Champions 2015).
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