Chris Jericho Confirms AEW Was 'Going After' AJ Styles

Speaking with GamesHub, AEW's Chris Jericho revealed that there was a point when the promotion was pursuing Styles, right around the time that his deal with WWE was set to expire. "There was a time when we were going after him when his contract was up," Jericho confirmed (HT to Fightful for the transcription).

Jericho went on to insinuate that Styles might not have wanted to become All Elite after having grown accustomed to the way WWE runs things. "Could he be a good fit? Of course he would be. AJ’s a great performer and a great guy. But there is something to be said for the fact that when you’ve worked in the Vince McMahon system for a long time, you think differently."

When Did AEW Try To Lure Styles Away From WWE?

It's not entirely clear when exactly Styles was on AEW's radar. While it's possible it was as recently as this year, Styles' contract hadn't expired. It was actually due to run out in 2025; however, The Phenomenal One signed an extension with WWE to keep him there well into 2026. That's likely when Styles first let WWE know that he would be retiring the following year.

Maybe, knowing that Styles was potentially about to become a free agent, AEW thought it might be in with a chance of stealing him from under WWE's nose. It sounds like that was never really on the table, and Styles always planned to end his in-ring career in WWE. Jericho did note that it would now be weird for Styles to show up and compete somewhere else, having retired in WWE, but you can never rule it out.

Jericho's future is somewhat unclear at the moment, too. We are fast approaching the first anniversary of his last match in AEW, as the future Hall of Famer hasn't wrestled since April 2025. Interestingly, he refers to AEW as "we" in this latest interview, as there's still a belief that the next time we see Jericho in a wrestling capacity, it will be back in WWE. It's believed that's the plan, but his AEW contract might be preventing that.