As a longtime Chris Jericho fan, I’m very interested in his latest comeback. The 55-year-old legend had worn out his welcome with all-kinds of pro wrestling fans by early 2025, for all kinds of reasons. So he took a page out of his mid-career WWE playbook and went away for a while.
Jericho came back earlier this month, somewhat unexpectedly to AEW. He and Tony Khan say that’s where he wants to be, and while that could just be spin, jumping to WWE doesn’t feel like quite the slam dunk it did when those
rumors started late last year.
Regardless, he’s been back on Dynamite and receiving good reactions in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest United States. Beyond the usual return pop and “Judas” singalong, Jericho’s been getting cheers with what I can best describe as a people-pleasing character. He’s used a few different elements of past popular gimmicks, like the fist raise entrance and The List (which trust and believe I marked out for as much as anybody). Other than that though, on the mic it’s been hometown references and other lines even Mick Foley would call cheap. “Subliminally” calling Ricochet bald was clever, but it doesn’t take a genius to get AEW crowds chanting that.
Given frequent criticism he didn’t put over enough other, younger wrestlers in his last run, losing his PPV return to Ricochet was a smart move, though. And whether it’s leading to the return of The Learning Tree or a new stable for Jericho, so was getting his ass beat by The Demand last night (April 16) on Dynamite.
But my favorite thing he’s done so far came after the show. Before taking his leave last April, Jericho had a well-earned reputation for filing trademarks on any and every gimmick or catchphrase he could think of. So after Ricochet suggested his new schtick could be “the guy who gets his ass beat by The Demand every week that he shows up”, Jericho filed this:
The trademark covers wrestling performances, so Jericho can indeed use it every week he shows up.
I don’t know about you, but to me filing a trademark on “the guy who gets his ass beat by The Demand every week that he shows up” is hilarious. It also gives me a little more hope Jericho will be able to pull off one more (last?) career intervention.
We’ll see what else he has up his sequined sleeve. Let us know in the comments what you make of the trademark filing, or Jericho’s comeback thus far.
