Chris Jericho: AEW Could’ve Gone To MSG Or Barclays, But Those Have A WWE Brush On Them

AEW is coming to New York in September and Chris Jericho is excited to bring the promotion to WWE territory.

For decades, New York has been known as the home base for WWE, with wrestlers often referencing WWE by calling it “New York.” In September, AEW will make its debut in New York, running Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Speaking to New York Daily News, Chris Jericho commented on AEW’s upcoming New York debut.

“We’ve expanded to a lot of people that are just excited to see a different style of wrestling after being fed the same dish for 20 years plus,” he said. “One of the reasons why AEW’s done so well is we’re different from WWE and that’s obvious. We do things differently than the way they do it. They’re a huge successful company, especially in the New York market. That’s a WWE stronghold. But there are a lot of people who are excited to see things done a little bit differently and I think that’s one of the reasons why we’re making our debut in New York City in a stadium WWE’s never been in. I’m sure we could have gone to the Garden or done the Barclays Center, but those do have a WWE brush on them. Let’s go somewhere else and make it our New York market arena. Let’s go to Arthur Ashe Stadium and that now becomes an AEW stronghold in the middle of New York, which is a McMahon country.”

WWE is set to go back on the road beginning in July, but they have yet to announce a return date for New York.

Madison Square Garden will re-open to full capacity on June 20.