Latest Chatter On Chris Jericho's WWE Return And Possible Pit Stop Along The Way

Chris Jericho and his rumored return to WWE remain a hot topic of conversation across the professional wrestling world.

The crowd inside of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn this past Monday night chanted "Y2J" on multiple occasions, as there was a belief that WWE would be re-debuting the nine-time world champion during the big Raw on Netflix anniversary show. However, the broadcast ended without so much of a hint of Jericho's imminent arrival.

Why was the crowd so sure Jericho would be on Raw Monday night? Let's start with what was being said at the end of December. Alex McCarthy of Wrestling Intel reported that Chris Jericho was expected to jump ship back to WWE once his contract with All Elite Wrestling expired.

Chris Jericho | Lee South - All Elite Wrestling

Furthermore, McCarthy stated that the creative team was considering using him during the Raw anniversary show on January 5.

Consideration is far from a guarantee, but WWE really appeared to lean into the rumors of Jericho's return when Raw General Manager Adam Pearce dropped a "Break the Walls Down" reference on social media this past Sunday afternoon. PWInsider later reported that the line from Pearce's weekly Raw rundown was meant to tie into the Stranger Things cross promotion.

Not sure I personally buy into that, but I've never seen the show, so feel free to draw your own conclusions on that one.

Okay, so let's reset. What do we currently know about the Chris Jericho situation?

The answer is nothing really concrete, outside of the fact that he's still listed on the AEW roster page.

All Elite Wrestling is meticulous about keeping that page up to date, so Jericho's smiling mug positioned between Cash Wheeler and Christian Cage is a fairly significant sign that he's still under contract with Tony Khan's company. It was reported previously, by multiple outlets, that his deal was set to expire at the end of 2025.

Jericho has not been featured on AEW programming since last April, and while Fightful Select's Sean Ross Sapp has not been able to nail down whether his contract had been extended or frozen during that time, he personally has heard that Jericho has not been brought up in recent WWE creative team meetings. Which is a contradiction to Alex McCarthy's report.

All of the confusion surrounding his next career move is likely what Jericho wants. As Andrew Baydala with Final Bell Media pointed out during his live stream on Thursday, this will likely be the last opportunity in his career to pull off a major surprise.

Chris Jericho Return?? The Rock's #WrestleMania 43 status. Tony Khan on the current product & more. https://t.co/H3YFEBVQNm
— Andrew Baydala (@AndrewBaydala) January 8, 2026

"Chris Jericho, I believe, has already agreed to a WWE return. What that entails, I don't know. I don't know the time. I don't know the place. I don't know any of that stuff because I don't think majority of the people would," Baydala said. "I think that Chris is so old school that he's going to keep that very close to the vest."

Allow me to preface this next part by saying Baydala has not outright reported that Jericho could make a stop in TNA Wrestling before coming home to WWE, but the collaborative partnership between the two companies at least makes that a possibility.

"I do believe, because there's a lot of smoke around this from what I was gathering from people who were calling and texting me who would know, that Chris is very interested in working TNA. What a statement it would be if Chris Jericho shows up on the first episode of TNA on AMC."

Prepare for iMPACT!

AMC is the new home of TNA: Thursday Night iMPACT starting January 15. #TNAiMPACT pic.twitter.com/QOU1OhNx9b
— AMC TV (@AMC_TV) December 2, 2025

TNA Wrestling is set to debut on Thursday Night iMPACT! on the AMC network on January 15. Baydala theorized that Jericho could resurface there, wrestle his first ever match for the company at TNA Genesis the following Saturday and then make his way to WWE in time for the Royal Rumble on Saturday, January 31.

Again, this is far from a guarantee, but this is something worth monitoring. We'll continue to provide information on the Chris Jericho situation as it becomes available.

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