Chris Jericho Likely To Receive Big Money Offers From WWE And AEW

Outside the world of kayfabe, Jericho is facing a major career decision. Variety had originally reported that his AEW contract was set to expire this month after he signed a three-year extension in 2022.

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select, however, has now confirmed that there is a little bit more time left on his deal than previously thought.

"Chris Jericho’s contract is scheduled to conclude at the end of 2025, barring the possibility of an extension or that his deal is frozen," Ross Sapp said in his report. "We’ve not heard of him being brought up creatively in AEW, but his creative typically is discussed directly with Tony Khan."

AEW President Tony Khan has expressed his desire to keep Jericho in AEW, but was non-committal about his future during a recent appearance on Busted Open Radio.

"We’ll see what happens here in the coming months. But Chris is always a welcomed, big part of AEW. We’d always want to have him here. I absolutely am so grateful to Chris Jericho for everything he’s done."

Ross Sapp has been told that the relationship between Khan and Jericho is still strong, at least from Tony's perspective. The jury is still out on things from Jericho's point of view.

Chris Jericho is nearly guaranteed to earn big money on his next deal

If he does ultimately hit free agency, the 54-year-old is expected to garner heavy interest from promotions across the globe. Yes, that includes WWE, with one source telling Fightful that he would almost certainly get a multi-million dollar offer to return to the company.

"We have not heard if there’s been any direct conversations about him or creative ideas discussed, but he has been brought up among higher ups in WWE," Ross Sapp said. "A staff member did say that they felt like his mentions and references, and the reaction on WWE TV to him from the audience was a good sign for his interest."

The belief is that AEW could, and mostly likely would, match an offer made to Jericho by WWE. As of this writing, Chris' motivations remain unclear. We'll continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.