Chris Jericho says he was never gone from AEW, addressing the rumors that surrounded his year away from television. Jericho was off AEW TV for close to a year starting in April 2025, with his contract reportedly expiring at the end of the year amid speculation about a WWE jump, before he returned in April 2026. He addressed it in an interview with Beef Vegan.
“You weigh all your options, but I have skin in the game with AEW. I helped create AEW, and I was never gone. I was just off TV for a while, while we figured out some stuff. Basically, I ended one contract and went straight to the other one. I like Tony Khan as a boss. I like AEW as a company and the growth that we’ve done.”
“I helped start the company. WWE existed before I was there. It exists after I was there. AEW will exist after I’m there, but it didn’t exist before I was there. It’s more exciting to be with the company that I helped create.”
Jericho was one of AEW’s first signings in 2019, and Tony Khan has often credited him with helping launch the company. He brought back his Painmaker persona to beat Tommaso Ciampa in a No Holds Barred match at Redemption on Sunday.