Backstage Update On Chris Jericho’s WWE RAW Appearance

Chris Jericho was rumored to make his WWE return on Raw this week. But he was a no-show.

A few days ago, Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that Jericho was a free agent and, therefore, he was legally free to show up on January 5, which marked Raw’s first anniversary on Netflix.

Plus, ahead of the show, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce hyped up the episode, saying:

Alright, everybody, Monday Night Raw is live tomorrow night from Brooklyn, New York, and it is our one-year anniversary on Netflix.

We have a stacked card, first things first, breaking news, for the first time in six months, Liv Morgan will be in singles action against Lyra Valkyria, and do not forget three humongous championship matches; who can break down the walls and claim the gold?

The wrestling world correlates the “break down the walls” tagline with Chris Jericho’s entrance, which led the WWE Universe to believe that Jericho would return on RAW on January 5. But when he didn’t, the fans were very disappointed.

Why Chris Jericho Didn’t Show Up On The First WWE Raw Episode Of 2026?

A fresh new report from PWInsider states that Jericho was never booked to appear on WWE Raw this week. The “break down the walls” comment from Adam Pearce was not a Jericho tease but simply a Netflix’s Stranger Things reference.

PWInsider.com is told Jericho was never slated for the show and is actually in Los Angeles this week.

For those who were incorrectly piecing Adam Pearce making a reference to breaking walls down on a social media video over the weekend, given tonight was a Stranger Things crossover-themed episode, that was obviously a smartly played reference to that series having the wall into the Upside Down dimension.

Unfortunately, others took hold of it and made it into something beyond what it appeared meant to be. If nothing else, Pearce built some buzz for the show. [H/T PWInsider]

Jericho’s contract with AEW ended in December 2025. He is now rumored to make his return to WWE at the Royal Rumble in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, or at WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas.

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