AEW Star Reveals Why He Turned Down WWE Deal

Earlier this year, Chris Jericho’s long-term future was a legitimate talking point. His contract with AEW was reportedly drawing to a close, and the rumor mill had linked him with a potential return to WWE.

However, on April 1, 2026, Jericho returned to AEW, appearing on Dynamite in his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. It quickly emerged that Jericho had re-signed with AEW for the foreseeable future.

During a recent appearance on Wrestling Observer Radio, Jericho discussed his decision to return to AEW.

“When it was time to kind of start thinking about coming back, obviously you weigh your options. And there is a lot of factors, but the bottom line is this, and this was the one that really clinched it for me, was I’ve got skin in the game in AEW.”

Jericho continued.

“I helped start AEW, and in a lot of ways, if there was no Chris Jericho, there might not have been an AEW. And there certainly wasn’t one before me. There was a WWE before Chris Jericho. There was a New Japan before. There was a CMLL before. And there’ll be an AEW after I leave, obviously.”

Of course, Jericho knows that when the time eventually comes for him to step away, AEW will continue to grow. The hope is, that he leaves the company in a stronger position.

“And I can’t wait to see how much bigger the company gets over the next 10 years, etc. But when it came down to it, it was like, I like working for Tony. We had to work some things out, which we did. It wasn’t hard to do.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Jericho was also asked about which members of the roster he’d like to work with in the future. Unsurprisingly, a lot of the names Jericho mentioned were younger members of the AEW roster.

“Kevin Knight, I would love to do more with him,” Jericho said. “I’d love to be a tag team with Ricochet. I’d love to be a tag team with Ciampa. I mean, I could do something with Jack Perry. I could work with Mark Davis. I could work with Kyle Fletcher. I could work with The Rascalz. The Rascalz could be like my minions.”

Jericho has a history of working with younger or less experienced talent in AEW. During his time with the Jericho Appreciation Society, he had both Sammy Guevara and Daniel Garcia as part of his stable. Then he worked with Big Bill and Bryan Keith during his time as ‘The Learning Tree.’

Despite being an elder statesman in the wrestling industry, Jericho still has an important role to play for AEW. His recent feud with Tommaso Ciampa was fantastic, and they put on some solid matches.

If done right, Jericho could definitely help develop and get some of the younger talent over. Working with The Rascalz would make a lot of sense in that regard. However, Tony Khan may be happy using Jericho’s experience to put on some stellar storylines or fill up the midcard.

Chris Jericho brought back the "YOU JUST MADE THE LIST" catchphrase.

Ricochet vs Jericho is set for AEW Dynasty#AEWDynamitepic.twitter.com/JeCfX7RwrY

— Fightful Wrestling (@Fightful) April 9, 2026

Whatever happens for the remainder of his time in AEW, Jericho will go down as one of the most important figures in the early development of the company. If he could help get over some young talent during what might be his final contract, then what better way would there be to bow out?

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