Chris Jericho: "Everyone In WWE Owes Chris Jericho A Thank You"

Over recent weeks, the likes of

and

have revealed they turned down mega-money offers from WWE in favour of leaving the company for pastures new.

Well, it would appear that Chris Jericho is taking some credit for these heightened contract offers, as he explained in an interview with

recently: “I’m not surprised (about WWE paying attention to AEW).

"I will say this … everyone in WWE owes Chris Jericho a thank you because the moment I signed with AEW, it became legit. That’s when everyone started getting these huge raises to not go. It was very similar to what happened to Bobby Hull in the early 1970s when he signed with the WHA (World Hockey Association) for a million dollars. Every other player got a huge raise to not jump with him. My dad went from a $35,000 to a $100,000 a year because they didn’t want him going to the WHA.

"It’s the same thing for Vince [McMahon] is doing with WWE. You’re hearing about prelim guys getting $400,000, $500,000 a year deals. Everyone deserves the money they make, but they never would have gotten that before and wouldn’t get it somewhere else. They can be ones who will never draw a dime. It doesn’t matter. Vince doesn’t want anyone coming to AEW. Doesn’t want there to be a mass exodus whether you are an opening match jobber or a main event Roman Reigns. He doesn’t want anybody to go.”