The wrestling world was shocked at Chris Jericho returning to AEW rather than heading back to WWE for WrestleMania 42. Jericho’s contract reportedly expired entering 2026 and rumors picked up about the legend potentially returning to WWE for the first time in many years. However, fans learned that wasn’t happening when Jericho returned to AEW last night for an episode of Dynamite in his hometown in Winnipeg, Canada.
Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported the following about Jericho’s AEW appearance and WWE negotiations:
“From the WWE standpoint, and I don’t know what they told him. I know what I was told, and I was told that, as far as they wanted him for a retirement tour, okay? And maybe that’s not what he wanted. But I don’t know. I just know that they told me that they wanted him for a retirement tour, and that was it. With AEW, perhaps he was going to get more longevity.”
The timing made many fans expect Jericho to head back to WWE since WrestleMania 42 is coming up in a couple of weeks. Jericho would have provided a big legend’s return to add excitement to the biggest wrestling weekend of the year. AEW instead gets the big Jericho return as he appears to be part of the product moving forward.
WWE Had Contract Negotiations With Jericho
Meltzer confirmed that WWE was in talks with Jericho recently and had chances of a return. Something happened during that time to make Jericho favor heading back to AEW. Contract or creative disagreements with WWE likely caused him to stay put in AEW for the foreseeable future.
Another quote from Meltzer shares what he heard from WWE’s side:
“So I checked with WWE, because I know he’d been talking to WWE. They thought he was, at one point, he was going. And the response from WWE was that he is not coming to WWE now, any time soon, and maybe never.”
WWE believed Jericho was returning at one point, but a change led to them revealing that he’s not coming any time soon and may never appear there again. This implies that Jericho signed a long-term deal with AEW that makes it his wrestling home for another few years.
AEW Likely Gave Jericho More Freedom
One common speculation point about Jericho deciding to stay with AEW featured the topic of a “retirement tour.” Many believe that WWE wanted Jericho for a short time to have a retirement tour before calling it quits for good.
AEW would be more inclined to keep things open for Jericho to sign for a few more years without the pressure of putting an end date on his career. Jericho likely has the potential to keep wrestling beyond this deal in AEW.
Creative freedom is also a huge benefit for talents joining AEW and having more input in their storylines. Jericho was considered one of Tony Khan’s closest confidants in AEW, and that gives him the freedom to pitch ideas and contribute more of his own words. Time will tell if AEW is able to get more out of Jericho after some struggles with fan reactions in recent years.
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