I am usually one to always love a good stipulation match, especially one as chaotic as Stadium Stampede, but I just cannot figure out why Chris Jericho’s feud against Ricochet deserves that particular stipulation. Sure, Jericho had a part in creating (and competing in) the first Stadium Stampede match back in 2020, which was an absolute banger, but this upcoming match at Double or Nothing doesn’t seem like it will be anything like that.

Ricochet thought he was smart because the stipulation requires Jericho to find four other partners, but he, Toa Liona, and Bishop Kaun will have to find two people of their own to complete their team. Ricochet mentioned that Jericho had to pay people to provide back up in their previous trios match on “Collision,” but in reality, Jericho could just do that all over again, likely no big deal. It looks like he’ll have at least two partners, possibly three, in the Hurt Syndicate, the guys who had his back in that “Collision” match anyway. It just doesn’t make sense that this would be the first stipulation that came to Ricochet’s mind.

The entire feud overall just doesn’t fit a Stadium Stampede match to me at all. It’s really just Jericho vs. Ricochet, though the latter has two big guys at his side as backup. It feels like AEW is just trying to shoehorn Stadium Stampede in for Double or Nothing, for tradition’s sake, and something just feels off to me. Maybe it’s because AEW usually isn’t a “stipulation for stipulation’s sake” kind of company, and it just feels weird.

I have no idea who The Demand is going to get to team with them, but if Jericho has Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, and MVP, maybe at least the Hurt Syndicate will introduce a new member. That would at least accomplish something else in what feels like a lot of randomness.

Hey, at least Jericho and MVP must be getting along well enough to continue to work together. And, the match is likely to be a good dose of chaos on the Double or Nothing card by the time the bell rings and a winner is declared. And, in perhaps the most shocking thing of all, Jericho has yet to get on my nerves since returning to AEW, and even though I don’t love this, it’s not his, or even his character’s, fault. Right now, though, I just can’t say I’m seeing the vision or just why this match is happening, but I’m happy to be proven wrong in the next two weeks.

Written by Daisy Ruth