The Perfect WWE Opponent For Chris Jericho’s Return Feud Pitched
A WWE Hall of Famer believes a particular superstar would benefit significantly from Chris Jericho returning to the company.
After spending the last six years in AEW as one of the company’s biggest stars, former 6-time WWE Champion Chris Jericho could be returning “home” to the company where he had an incredible career as one of the greatest WWE superstars of all time.
The story of a potential WWE return for Jericho started when the future Hall of Famer liked a post on Instagram about a return to the company. That led to a report claiming that there are people in WWE who definitely want Jericho to return.
At 54 years old (he’ll be 55 in November), WWE wouldn’t be getting prime Chris Jericho, but he would likely retire soon, and he would do so in a place very familiar to him. Of course, this time it wouldn’t be Vince McMahon calling the shots like he was during Jericho’s first run in WWE from 1999 to 2017, with a few breaks in between.
In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer wrote that there are people in AEW who don’t expect Chris Jericho to return to the company with his last appearance coming this past April. Jericho’s AEW deal is reportedly up at the end of 2025.
“There has been a lot of talk regarding Chris Jericho this past week. Neither Jericho nor Tony Khan have said anything about this when asked but not denied anything either. Jericho’s contract expires at the end of the year. 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.
A few months ago we wrote here about it and my thoughts were and still are that all things being equal, WWE is the place for him. But all things may not be equal, when it comes to money, and other factors.”
Who Should Chris Jericho Work With In WWE?
Since the Chris Jericho news has picked up a lot of steam, everybody is chiming in about what he should do if he returns to WWE. Some people suggest Jericho could be a good fit as a General Manager on Raw or SmackDown, given his incredible talking skills and reduced wrestling workload. However, Jericho has been wrestling throughout his AEW run and is usually in good shape, so he may want to wrestle at least for a few more years.
While speaking on Busted Open Radio After Dark, WWE Hall of Famer Bubba Ray Dudley (aka Bully Ray) suggested that Jericho feud with LA Knight when he returns to WWE.
“You just want Chris Jericho to retire because he’s going to be 55 and work behind the scenes. I’m sorry. I just don’t.
I would bring Chris Jericho back to the WWE just to work with LA Knight. If you told me that that was the only thing he was going to do for one year, that’s good enough a reason alone.
The beauty about going back to the WWE is Chris Jericho could show up at the WWE at the Royal Rumble with the same exact entrance that he made his debut in the WWE with… and that place would go f—ing bananas. Some people do nostalgia really well… and it does work for certain wrestling acts.”
During his AEW career, Jericho was the first AEW World Champion in 2019, and he also won the ROH World Title twice. Jericho referred to himself as “The Nueve” to reference the 9 World Titles he’s won in pro wrestling in WWE (one of them was the WCW World Title) and AEW.