Update on Chris Jericho possibly returning to WWE

In the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer provided some more information on what’s going on with Chris Jericho’s impending free agency.

Jericho, who has been off AEW TV for more than four months now, is scheduled to become a free agent at the end of this year. He’s been with AEW since the promotion launched in 2019 and was the first-ever AEW World Champion, but a WWE return is looking like a realistic possibility for him as things stand.

Meltzer notes that there are people in AEW who expect Jericho to go back to WWE when his contract expires. There’s a chance he could return to the company as a surprise entrant in the 2026 Royal Rumble, but nothing is definitive until it happens.

“There has been a lot of talk regarding Chris Jericho this past week. Neither Jericho nor Tony Khan have said anything about this when asked but not denied anything either. Jericho’s contract expires at the end of the year. There are those in AEW who believe that he’s not going to be back and will start in WWE as a Royal Rumble surprise,” Meltzer wrote. “The only thing we’ve heard from WWE is that they expect him, but keep in mind at this stage of everything if he’s looking to go there or negotiate with them, he’s going to give that impression. I can tell you we’ve heard the same about other AEW stars over the years that WWE was pretty sure they were getting, and some went and some stayed.

“A few months ago we wrote here about it and my thoughts were and still are that all things being equal, WWE is the place for him. But all things may not be equal, when it comes to money, and other factors.”

Jericho has been away from AEW programming since taking time off this April, when he thought it was the right time for a break given the negative crowd reactions he was receiving.

Last weekend, Jericho liked an Instagram post about him being open to a WWE return, which continued to fuel rumors about the situation.