As far as I know, Jericho requested to work a program with AJ Styles since he knew what Styles was capable of and wanted to give AJ that rub right off the bat. So to that extent, Jericho was behind the feud and would have some say as far as the program went but at the end of the day, Vince has the final say and if he saw more in Styles than he would promote him.
Unfortunately, there really isn't any heels for AJ to graduate to. After Jericho there really isn't anyone he could face that would enable him to become a main event talent.
There's Sheamus, and I could see them having a really good match but Sheamus isn't over in the slightest so it would be seen as a step back.
The same can be said of all the League of Nations geeks. I sort of understand why they're around since HHH can't work every single week heading into Mania so you need underlings for the babyfaces to work against, but in an ideal world they would have broken up at the Rumble.
Owens as IC Champion is an island to himself and you really don't want Styles to get involved until Kevin drops the belt.
Ryback is too unsafe.
The Wyatts aren't a good pairing for AJ and they can't afford another loss.
So they've extended the deal with Jericho and while it isn't the hottest program of all-time it maybe one of the more consistent segments on the show and will give Styles a way to ease himself onto the show. However, if Vince wants Styles to become a main event talent, he needs to groom a few heat-seekers so Styles can work them and eventually take on Roman.
