AEW: Backstage Update on Chris Jericho’s Current Break from AEW & Contract Status, Deonna Purrazzo on Her Interest in Becoming Backstage Producer After In-Ring Career Is Over, More News

Backstage Update on Chris Jericho’s Current Break from AEW & Contract Status

As noted before, Chris Jericho has been on a break from AEW since this past April due to Fozzy music tour commitments.

Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that besides Fozzy’s recent tour, Jericho had felt that it was a good time for him to take some time off from AEW. Fozzy has scheduled their most recent tout on dates around AEW Dynamite but Jericho felt it made the most sense for him to take the time away instead.

In regards to the status of Jericho’s current contract, it was reported that the current belief is that Jericho still has six months left on his current deal with AEW. It was also reported that it is currently not known whether or not time can be tacked onto his deal due to the abscense.

It was reported that it is currently not known when Jericho will be making his return to AEW.

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Deonna Purrazzo Comments on Her Interest in Becoming Backstage Producer After In-Ring Career Is Over

A recent episode of the Lightweights with Joe Vulpis podcast featured Deonna Purrazzo as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Purrazzo’s thoughts about her interest in becoming a backstage producer after her in-ring career is over.

“Absolutely (I’d like to be involved behind the scenes after my in-ring career). I don’t think I’ll ever be able to give wrestling up completely and I think that just through all my experiences and every company I’ve worked with and just, again, the body of work I’ve created, I think I have a lot more to give to a younger generation coming in and I would love to be a producer and help put matches together and things like that.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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AEW News & Notes

Wednesday’s AEW Fyter Fest 2025 show in Denver, Colorado featured former Stardom talent Thekla making her official in-ring debut in AEW. Thekla competed in a singles match against Lady Frost, which was won by Thekla.

Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that Renee Paquette, RJ City, and Harley Cameron were not in attendance backstage at Wednesday’s AEW Fyter Fest 2025 show in Denver due to all of them flew to Italy for a wedding. It was reported that former AEW talent Saraya is also attending the wedding.

Anthony Bowens recently revealed on Twitter that he was named the honorary grand marshal of this year’s Dallas Pride Parade event on June 15th in Dallas, Texas.

Lio Rush recently announced on Twitter that his pet dog Brixton passed away this past Tuesday. Rush stated “This has been extremely hard for me to process. If you know me, you know how much he meant to me. If you don’t know, this dog was more than a dog. In fact he was more human than most humans I know. He was my kid, my brother, he was my friend, my protector. He’s been here with me through it all. Everytime I think I’m strong enough, I break down in tears thinking about all the memories and all the moments we had. From hotels, to road trips, to moving across the country multiple times. We’ve done it all and see it all together. I loved Brixton so much and everyone who came across him had so much love for him. Rest in peace brix 🐕🐾💔You’ll never be forgotten.“

In a recent interview with AEW’s Hey! (EW) show, Leila Grey gave her thoughts about why she didn’t want to change her stage name when she jumped from her music career to a pro wrestling career. Grey stated “For music, actually. Yes, because I am a singer slash kind of a rapper. But yes, Leila Grey was actually my music name, my stage name that I was using to perform under as. Then when I started wrestling, I’m like, well, I don’t want to create another name. I can’t have all these names out there. So I just decided to use Leila Grey for that as well.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)