Backstage Update on Chris Jericho’s AEW Status After His Return at 4/1 AEW Dynamite Show

As noted before, Chris Jericho made his surprise return to AEW at this past Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite show in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada . This was Jericho’s first appearance in AEW since April of 2025. During his lengthy time away from AEW, Jericho’s contract was believed to have been frozen after having been originally set to expire at the end of 2025.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that WWE had only wanted to bring Jericho back to their companyfor a retirement tour and farewell run.

Meltzer reported that WWE officials had planned at one point that their plans for 2026 would have been built around the retirements for AJ Styles, Brock Lesnar, and possibly Jericho as well.

Despite the teases by RAW GM Adam Pearce and WWE World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk on WWE shows, those spoken to reportedly had repeatedly stated that “you should not believe any of the stories going around involving WWE and Jericho.”

Meltzer reported that the current belief is that Jericho going back to WWE is now “dead” and he is back in AEW for the long term. Meltzer also reported that it is currently not known what are AEW’s plans for Jericho for his return but this is something that will likely be clear once their current tour of Canada is over.