Chris Jericho’s status has been a very hot topic over the last few months as it was rumored that he could be returning to the company. Ultimately that’s not what happened as Jericho made his return to AEW during this week’s episode of Dynamite in Winnipeg.
Dave Meltzer discussed Chris Jericho’s AEW return on Wrestling Observer Radio and noted that Jericho had been in talks with WWE. Meltzer added that he was told WWE wanted Chris Jericho for a retirement tour, and that was it.
“I checked with WWE, because I know he had been talking with WWE, they thought at one point he was going. The response from WWE was that he is not coming to WWE now, anytime soon, and maybe never.
“They told me they wanted him (Jericho) for a retirement tour, and that was it. With AEW, perhaps he was going to get more longevity. There’s a lot of advantages for AEW, and there’s always money. He may have been offered more money in AEW.
“His money situation is probably pretty great. He made a lot of money in AEW. At this point, especially at the age that he’s at, he’s going to want to do what’s creatively fulfilling and fun. AEW’s a little bit of a risk in the sense of, not the creative, because he will probably have more creative input there than in WWE, but he’d have a better audience in WWE. I think there’s less risk in WWE in the sense that the crowd is not going to be as difficult for him in WWE, but this is his decision.”
Prior to his return on Wednesday night Chris Jericho last appeared on AEW programming in April of 2025 when he dropped the ROH World Championship to Bandido at the Dynasty pay-per-view.