Maybe it’s just me, but Chris Jericho’s return to WWE next year feels like a foregone conclusion.
All the signals he’s sending out seem to point in that direction: promoting internet speculation about his
future, not booking AEW talent on his next cruise, and being critical of AEW’s product on his podcast. The rumor mill is more focused on when he’ll be a free agent, and where a re-debut makes sense on WWE’s 2026 schedule.
But the brass at AEW aren’t ready to let the promotion’s first World champion go without making their pitch. So far, that’s consisted of praising Jericho, reminding everyone how important it was to have him in the fold when the company launched, and making it clear they’re giving the well-traveled legend time and space to figure out what’s best for him.
That’s essentially what the new-media-friendlier version of AEW president and head booker Tony Khan told Ariel Helwani earlier this week. And it’s what (shoot-if-no-longer-kayfabe) Executive Vice-Presidents Matt & Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks told “NY’s number 1 Street Journalist” Adam Glyn when he ambushed them at the airport arriving for Full Gear this weekend.
Glyn asked what the Bucks could do as execs to get Jericho to stay.
Nick: He’s a founding father. so of course we want him to stay.
Matt: I love Chris Jericho.
Nick: We’re not sure where he’s at head space-wise right now. I know he’s, like, on a break. And he’s trying to figure it out on his own. And sometimes you gotta let a wrestler like that figure it out on his own.
I’d still bet Jericho’s fourth WWE run is about to begin. But I’d also bet that TK & The Bucks’ approach makes it more likely the 55-year-old someday rejoins the challenger brand he helped found in some capacity.
Check out all the questions Glyn fired at Matt & Nick as they walked through the airport in the full Adam’s Apple video here.
