A major return could be on the horizon in early 2026.
Chris Jericho’s contract status has been a major talking point over the past several days, with multiple reports indicating that his current deal expires at the end of the year, with WWE said to be interested in bringing him back to the company.
In today’s edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer revealed that within AEW, there are those who expect Jericho to return to WWE at the Royal Rumble, with WWE sources claiming that they expect him to join them.
“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. 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.”
-Dave Meltzer
Jericho has been absent from in-ring action since dropping the ROH World Championship to Bandido at AEW: Dynasty on April 6th earlier this year and has been touring with his band Fozzy during this time away.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Chris Jericho’s AEW contract status and the prospect of a WWE return as soon as we hear more.
