As we approach the end of 2022, the conversation of wrestler of the year (WOTY) debate starts showing up everywhere. There’s a lot of wrestlers that have strong cases for WOTY and Chris Jericho is absolutely one of them, and you could even say a favorite to take the distinction.
Chris Jericho is without a doubt one of the most consistent wrestlers ever. His longevity and evolution of his career has been something to admire and have been once again key to why Chris Jericho has had a great 2022 and, on the position of strong contender for WOTY.
The year of 2022 for Jericho has been all about the rise of JAS (The Jericho Appreciation Society). This new faction parodying WWE and sport entertainment as a contrast to AEW and pro-wrestling has made for some great TV during 2022. JAS has helped elevate Daniel Garcia y 2.0 to a new level throughout 2022 and become key parts of the AEW roster.
2022 has been a year with a lot of turmoil for AEW to multiple reasons, but Jericho was one of the few guys AEW could rely on when needed to carry the show, and that has been his 2022 all about. When AE needed to pop a number or sell a program, Jericho has been key for AEW this year and that can’t go unnoticed. This should also apply for his fellow JAS members that have helped AEW when needed this year.
Matches are still the most important thing in wrestling and Jericho has delivered big time on that metric too. Jericho this year has 11 matches rated 4+ by Dave Meltzer, and 6 matches rated above an 8 rating on Cagematch. This just shows that Jericho is delivering when needed on all departments this year, and this is a key factor to why Jericho is still on the race for wrestler of the year.
Winning the ROH world championship is just another feather for his cap in terms of accomplishments. The rest of 2022 could be interesting for him as a sports entertainer as ROH world champion and the programs that be made out of it. This will also help ROH for their next PPV. The most likely scenario will be a match against Danielson for the title.
While Jericho is a strong contender for 2022 WOTY, there are other wrestlers on the race or you could even say with stronger cases than him like Jon Moxley, Will Ospreay and many more, but nonetheless, 2022 is just another year that shows how good Jericho is despite him approaching the very end of his long career in wrestling.
