Can Chris Jericho make AEW fans care about him again? | Opinion
Months ago, I would have bet my mortgage that Chris Jericho would be in WWE by now and in fact, I may have said that exact thing on my shuttered podcast or a Sunday episode of Wrestling Observer Live.
Thankfully for myself and my marriage, I didn’t put any money down on that.
I had a column in drafts for the past four months about how Jericho and WWE were the perfect fit for each other at this stage of things. For Jericho, it was a chance to go back where he became fully realized, to have a final run as a part-timer with interesting programs and meaning for whatever he has left in the tank, and to go out to massive recognition and a WWE Hall of Fame induction in a few years from an accepting fanbase.
Alas, that was not to be and I was surprised by that fact as I think most of you reading this probably were when he popped up on AEW Dynamite last week.
Despite the feelings some fans have toward him, Jericho is no dummy. Throughout his career, he has constantly evolved and in doing so, he has had two HOF worthy runs alone, if not three. He branched out into different forms of media and often performed better in those forms than his brethren. From a band to improv to acting to whatever else he is up to, Jericho is always trying new things. I admire that.
But he’s got a pretty big challenge in front of him at 55 years old: making AEW fans truly care about him again.
Part of that surprise of him returning was due to Jericho fatigue, a non-medical disorder that ran through a good portion of the AEW fanbase in 2024 and 2025. I think he and Tony Khan would agree that final go-round with The Learning Tree wasn’t it. He was playing off the internet chatter about him being a succubus for younger talent and not really achieving what was intended: to leave them in a bigger and better spot.
Was this his fault or Khan’s or a combo? Success has a lot of fathers, but failure is an orphan. Regardless, that last few months felt a lot like the forgettable last AEW act of Cody Rhodes with the never-ending inter-Nightmare Factory feud. I’m shuddering as I type that.
After a year away with plenty of chatter and scuttlebutt about him (remember that TNA comment?), Jericho returned in great shape and looks revived. He did the smart thing in that return (no big surprise) in making fans wait for the kickoff to this next chapter of the story, simply saying he was “home” and leaving people guessing.
That attempts to be answered tonight on Dynamite, but I suspect there will be even more to come as the intrigue gets drawn out. I don’t expect him to wrestle at Sunday’s Dynasty, but that next breadcrumb feels like it will be found in Vancouver.
But what could the plan be? Here’s a few thoughts.
One of the reasons I thought Jericho returning for WWE would be smart is there were more fresh matchups there, plus the all-important old rivalries to work from. In AEW, there are opportunities at the upper level as his MJF, Kenny Omega, and Hangman Page feuds are now years old. He’s never wrestled Swerve Strickland or Andrade. He’s only wrestled Will Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada and Kyle Fletcher once each.
But, do any of those feel like dream matches in 2026? That’s where I’m struggling a bit. I don’t think he is returning for another mid-card run, but a final run at or near the top. He could be inserted into the war against the Don Callis Family (remember the Golden Jets with Omega?) which would seem like a natural fit if he wanted to be a babyface.
The bigger question: are AEW fans ready to accept him at that level again? I’m skeptical of that. A lot has changed in a year and all those guys above, as well as Konosuke Takeshita, are the top tier and have made the World title picture consistently mean something again. There has to be something compelling for fans to want some of those Jericho matches in that mix.
They other option is the midcard that is already too packed with talent trying to break through to have another name dropped in trying to get attention. That would feel too much like the end run in 2025 and I don’t think he came back just to put the
A big challenge lies ahead for both Jericho and Khan to not just make this work, but make it succeed. Tonight will be the first step toward seeing if they can make that happen.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.