According to a report from Fightful Select, those around Chris Jericho and AEW believe his contract was frozen after he took time off early last year.
The publication wrote, “Chris Jericho is still firmly under AEW contract. The belief from those around Jericho and in AEW is that his deal was frozen after he took time off in 2025.”
Fight Select also notes that, when they asked AEW “a number of times” in an official capacity whether Jericho had left the company, they received no response. Jericho’s profile is still listed on the roster page of AEW’s website. Furthermore, the report added that no internal memo has been released regarding his exit, which is standard procedure within the company.
Jericho was last seen on the April 9, 2025, episode of Dynamite, where he disbanded the Learning Tree, telling Big Bill and Bryan Keith how disappointed he was in them and then said he was ‘going home.’ Since then, there has been much speculation surrounding his future and where he may land next. Last November, it was reported that WWE made an offer to Jericho that involved a retirement storyline. Initially, the belief was that Jericho’s AEW deal was up in December of 2025, with rumors last December that Jericho could have been a surprise entrant in this year’s WWE Royal Rumble.