Many expected Chris Jericho to return at WWE Royal Rumble. That didn’t happen – allegedly because his current employer AEW prevented it by activating a contract clause.
Some expected him at the first RAW of 2026. Others expected him to be a surprise participant at Royal Rumble at the end of January. It was an open secret in the wrestling industry that ring legend Chris Jericho would return to WWE very soon after six years with rival AEW. However, this has not happened yet, although it has long been rumored that “Y2J” would be a free agent at the turn of the year from 2025 to 2026 and could show up at the market leader at any moment. The fact that it still hasn’t happened has recently caused increasing astonishment and speculation. Now, a new exposé seems to have shed some light on the matter.
AEW said to have “frozen” Chris Jericho’s WWE contract
As renowned show combat reporter Sean Ross Sapp reported this week on Fightful, Jericho is currently still under contract with AEW. The 55-year-old is still listed as a roster member on the official league website, and internally, the status is the same. There has also been no internal memo regarding his departure, which is otherwise standard procedure.
Citing insiders at AEW and “Jericho’s circle,” Sapp further reports that the prevailing belief there is that the promotion has “frozen” Jericho’s contract. Some time later, another well-known scene guru, Dave Meltzer, added meaningfully in his Wrestling Observer Radio that his sources would not deny the report. There is an eloquent silence behind the scenes in the industry. League boss Tony Khan would therefore have invoked a standard industry contract clause that allows a promotion to retain a promoter beyond the actual end of the contract – for the period of time he was absent during his engagement due to injury or other reasons.
WWE has often used this tactic itself, for example in the case of the now tragically deceased Brodie Lee (Luke Harper) or when the then Sasha Banks (now Mercedes Moné at AEW) first threatened to leave.
WWE apparently has to wait for the comeback
Jericho signed his second three-year contract in the fall of 2022. As was officially announced at the time, it ran until December 2025. However, because Jericho has not been used since the beginning of April 2025, he could possibly still be “compulsorily employed” for around eight months, depending on the circumstances of his time off and who initiated it.
Jericho and WWE could therefore be deprived of the opportunity to appear at the annual highlight WrestleMania in April – unless AEW and Jericho can agree on a termination agreement beforehand. This has happened before in similar cases, but it is questionable what incentive Khan would have to let Jericho leave before WrestleMania and thus do his competitor a big favor.
WWE is said to be planning a farewell story and induction into the Hall of Fame for Jericho, as Meltzer reported some time ago.
It looks as if the plans are on hold for the moment.
