WWE Disappointed Fans With Desperate Chris Jericho Tease

Did WWE let fans down after teasing Chris Jericho’s return on Raw?

For months, Chris Jericho has been widely expected to return to WWE following the end of his AEW contract. Jericho has not been seen in AEW since April 2025, but it was believed that his deal with Tony Khan’s company ran until the end of that year.

Raw General Manager Adam Pearce heightened expectations when he asked who could “Break the walls down” during his weekly preview of the show. That phrase is synonymous with Chris Jericho and led many fans to believe he’d be making his return on Raw.

However, that did not happen. There was no sign of Jericho despite fans chanting “Y2J.” But it seems WWE has concocted another story about Pearce’s unfortunate turn of phrase.

WWE Upset Fans With Chris Jericho Absence

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained that WWE’s excuse is that “Break the walls down” referred to Stranger Things, the promotional partner for the January 5th edition of Raw:

The excuse was, “Break the walls down”, was a reference to Stranger Things. They actually said that.

Meltzer continued, noting he thinks WWE made a deliberate ploy to mislead fans so the company could sell more tickets for the show:

Here’s the deal: they told you Jericho was going to be there, and he wasn’t there. They can say they didn’t, but they did. And, in doing so they disappointed people. I think that the whole idea was, ticket sales, they weren’t going to sell out. I don’t think they sold out but I think they came very, very close. But they sold a lot of tickets at the very end and because of that, I think those people thought we’re gonna see a happening.

If it was [CM] Punk and Bron Breakker, they were not moving tickets. I was stunned. The original advance for this show was very, very weak. Then they announced Punk vs. Bron Breakker, they announced the women’s match weeks ago and tickets did start to move but it was not heading to sell out levels. I think they really wanted a sell out bad so the last desperation move was we’re not gonna say Jericho’s coming but we’re gonna hint Jericho’s coming.

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