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Chris Jericho could return to WWE in 2026

Over the last several months, there has been a steady stream of reports and speculation about a potential WWE return for Chris Jericho.

The former World Champion is currently with Tony Khan’s AEW, but the wrestling community largely anticipates that Jericho will return to WWE before retiring.

Jericho, 55, took time to address rumors swirling around his WWE return during his appearance on Ringer Wrestling. When asked if there was any truth to whether he’d jump ship to WWE, the AEW star was his usual, coded self.

“Well, the interesting thing about fans and kind of going back to what we said earlier about having a career where you can watch anything online is that fans, in this day and age, then form their own opinions, and then it becomes law as the opinions spread,” Chris Jericho said. “So whatever people believed or didn’t believe, it’s like I was never a part of any of it. You know what I mean?

“I think the best part was there was so much speculation of what is he going to do. That either way, with the tribalism of wrestling nowadays, there’d be people happy about it, and not happy about it. This is the worst thing ever, and this is the best thing ever. I’ve never really focused on that side of this is terrible, and it’s never going to work.”

“Because to me, anything can work, and you always want to do your best to make it work, and I focus on the people who are excited about things, and the people who want to be entertained, and want to be happy, and want to have fun. That’s kind of the crowd that I focus on.”

Will Chris Jericho Return to WWE in 2026?

After careful examination of Jericho’s response, the Canadian wrestler sounds optimistic about what he could do in WWE.

As he stated, he wants to entertain the crowd. The days of Jericho competing for a World Championship appear all but over, but he could still be a valuable addition to the roster.

When asked if he had direct conversations with WWE, Jericho admitted he liked the idea of the intrigue and would answer that question in the future.

“No, I never said the rumors became fact,” Chris Jericho said. “I said that the rumors became fact to the fans. But yeah, I’ll leave that for another day. I like the idea of the intrigue.”

Even at his age, Jericho’s mic skills and comedic work would be a welcome addition to the WWE roster. Plus, the Winnipeg native is still hitting lionsaults with ease. So, he’s no slouch in the ring, either.

WWE 2k26 Teases Chris Jericho Return

Although Chris Jericho is attempting to remain tight-lipped on the matter, there have been hints of his potential return.

PWInsider reporter Mike Johnson stated in late December that WWE licensees believed they would soon be able to use Chris Jericho on their products.

This report was recently proven true by WWE 2K Content Creator Status, who discovered that Chris Jericho’s name was added to the WWE 2K26 game files.

“There is a new name entry for Chris Jericho. Unlike past superstars like Edge, Christian, and Paige, etc who just have leftover name files. Chris Jericho is the only one newly added to the updated Roster Table for WWE 2K26. This data isn’t tied to his leftover assets at all. Tt was added as new data alongside other cut characters like Steve Blackman and Melina, Sabu and etc. I believe that at some point, there were discussions to include Chris Jericho in #WWE2K26,” Status said.