Chris Jericho Responds to Rumors of a WWE Return

Was Chris Jericho close to a WWE return? Or was AEW always the destination?

Over the last several months, there have been constant reports and rumors surrounding former AEW World Champion Chris Jericho making the jump back to WWE this year. There were even some reports in late December that companies WWE is associated with were informed that Jericho would be available to use in products in the future and could appear as soon as the first Raw of 2026.

"Winnipeg! I'm home" - @IAmJericho

Watch #AEWDynamite LIVE on TBS + HBO Max pic.twitter.com/jtznXvEbtL
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) April 2, 2026

Despite this, Jericho was MIA not only on the first Raw of 2026, but the Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia as well. A destination that many fans and reporters deemed a foregone conclusion that he'd be returning at that event.

In what may have been the ultimate troll job by Chris Jericho and Tony Khan, Jericho returned to AEW on the April 1 episode of Dynamite from Winnipeg. After all that time away from the company, returning on April Fool's Day certainly seemed to be a well-planned-out choice.

Chris Jericho responds to reports that he was returning to WWE

All Elite Wrestling's Chris Jericho was a recent guest on Ringer Wrestling. When asked about the widespread belief that he was returning to WWE, and if there was any real potential that he was preparing to jump ship from AEW, Jericho chose his words very carefully.

"Well, the interesting thing about fans and kind of going back to what we said earlier about having a career where you can watch anything online is that fans, in this day and age, then form their own opinions, and then it becomes law as the opinions spread," Chris Jericho said. "So whatever people believed or didn't believe, it's like I was not ever a part of any of it, you know what I mean?

"I think the best part was there was so much speculation of what is he going to do that either way, with the tribalism of wrestling nowadays, there'd be people happy about it, and not happy about it, and this is the worst thing ever, and this is the best thing ever, and I've never really focused on that side of this is terrible, and it's never going to work."

"Because to me, anything can work, and you always want to do your best to make it work, and I focus on the people who are excited about things, and the people who want to be entertained, and want to be happy, and want to have fun. That's kind of the crowd that I focus on."

When point blank asked if he had conversations with WWE, Jericho admitted he liked the idea of the intrigue and would answer that question another time.

"No, I never said the rumors became fact," Chris Jericho said. "I said that the rumors became fact to the fans. But yeah, I'll leave that for another day. I like the idea of the intrigue."

Chris Jericho very likely did discuss a potential return with WWE

While Chris Jericho is currently content not to go into the details of his negotiations with WWE, there is plenty of evidence out there that proves they actually took place. One of the most important reports stemmed from a PWInsider report by Mike Johnson in late December that stated WWE licensees believed they would soon be able to use Chris Jericho on their products.

This report was recently proven factual by WWE 2K Content Creator Status, who discovered that Chris Jericho's name was added to the WWE 2K26 game files, likely with the intention of adding him to the game's roster, when he was believed to be heading back to WWE.

"There is a new name entry for Chris Jericho. Unlike past superstars like Edge, Christian, and Paige , etc who just have leftover name files, Chris Jericho is the only one newly added to the updated Roster Table for WWE 2K26. This data isn't tied to his leftover assets at all, it was added as new data alongside other cut characters like Steve Blackman and Melina, Sabu and etc. I believe that at some point, there were discussions to include Chris Jericho in #WWE2K26," Status said in a post.

There is a new name entry for Chris Jericho.

Unlike past superstars like Edge, Christian, and Paige , etc who just have leftover name files, Chris Jericho is the only one newly added to the updated Roster Table for WWE 2K26.

This data isn't tied to his leftover assets at all,… pic.twitter.com/1lzlA1kwEv
— 𝕾𝖙𝖆𝖙𝖚𝖘™ (@WhatsTheStatus) May 9, 2026

Expect this to be the first of many interviews this year where Jericho will be questioned about what took place several months ago. And while he might not be willing to tell the whole story now, it's likely we'll hear the details of what went down soon enough.

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