Chris Jericho’s AEW Situation Explained
Chris Jericho is still under an AEW contract.
It was initially believed that his deal with All Elite Wrestling would expire by the end of December 2025. Because of this, many fans expected Jericho to become a free agent and possibly make a surprise return to WWE.
Several major WWE events passed without Jericho showing up. Fans speculated about a potential return during the Raw on Netflix anniversary show, the Royal Rumble, and even the Elimination Chamber, but Jericho did not appear at any of them.
A new report from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter shed some light on Jericho’s contract situation. Meltzer stated that Jericho’s AEW contract may have been extended because he missed several months of in-ring action and appearances.
Update On Chris Jericho’s AEW Contract Amid WWE Return Speculation
Further details were later provided by Sean Ross Sapp during a Q&A session with Fightful Select. Sapp explained that wrestling contracts are becoming more individualized and are no longer as uniform as they once were, except for certain major stars in the past.
He added that in some cases, time can be added to a wrestler’s contract if they take time off. However, he noted that this is not a universal rule and depends on the specific terms of each contract.
According to Sapp, Jericho’s deal appears to have been extended due to the time he missed last year. He also mentioned that it is unclear who suggested the time off in the first place:
“Well, every contract is different and they’re becoming more and more different. They used to be pretty uniform with some exceptions obviously, you know, Hogan and some of the bigger stars like that.
But yeah, time can be added to your deal if you take time off. It’s not exclusively the case. It’s not universally across the board a thing. But yeah, that’s what was added rather — the time that was taken off last year. I don’t know who instigated or suggested the time off, but that’s where the deal is effectively extended from.
Again, every contract is different, but I would imagine that these will be points of contention for some talent moving forward and some of them will want the option, a mutual option to extend said deal and some won’t.”