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Why Chris Jericho Chose To Stay With AEW Instead Of Making WWE Return

By John Canton • Published Apr 06, 2026 17:15 EDT
Chris Jericho On AEW Dynamite
Chris Jericho On AEW Dynamite April 1 - Image via @AEW on X

There is more information about Chris Jericho staying with AEW after talking to WWE.

The legendary Chris Jericho was back on AEW Dynamite on April 1st, in the city he grew up in, Winnipeg, for a surprising return that surprised many people who follow the wrestling business.

Since Jericho didn’t appear on AEW TV at all after his last match in April 2025, there was an assumption that he would return to WWE, which is where he worked from August 1999 to nearly two decades later.

After soaking up the cheers from the crowd, Jericho cut a brief promo where he said: “Winnipeg….AEW…I’m home.” That was it.

While addressing Jericho’s return during a recent Fightful Select Q&A, Sean Ross Sapp said that Jericho signed a new deal with AEW.

“Has Jericho signed a new AEW contract? Yes, he has signed a new deal. They had extended the old one due to inactivity, but he’s there for the foreseeable future. I’m working to find out a lot of the details, but he wants them very close to the vest.”

Chris Jericho Talked To WWE Before Returning To AEW

There has been a lot of speculation about whether Jericho, AEW’s first World Champion, actually spoke to WWE about returning there. According to Sapp, Jericho did speak to WWE.

“Yes, he did talk to WWE… But AEW offered more money and a more favorable deal.

There’s a common misconception that wrestlers are not allowed or can’t talk to other companies while under contract. It’s frowned upon. But there’s no tampering. They were letting him explore his options.” (H/T Ringsidenews)

It had been previously reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE wanted Chris Jericho to do a story leading to an in-ring retirement similar to John Cena and AJ Styles losing to Gunther over the last five months, but the 55-year-old Jericho apparently wasn’t interested in that.

“We had been told that WWE only wanted to bring (Jericho) in for a retirement tour and farewell. At one time, we were told that the 2026 year would be built around retirements for AJ Styles, Brock Lesnar, and presumably Jericho.

But even though there were teases by (Adam) Pearce and another by CM Punk, we had been told repeatedly that you should not believe any of the stories going around involving WWE and Jericho.”

As for what’s next, AEW is heavily promoting Chris Jericho doing a promo on the April 8th edition of AEW Dynamite, which is the final Dynamite before the AEW Dynasty PPV takes place on April 12th, which could be when Jericho makes his in-ring return.