“He has so much star power’

Chris Jericho made his return to AEW. Following his return, a WWE legend has offered some advice to Tony Khan’s company.

Matt Hardy is the latest to comment on Chris Jericho’s return. Jericho has been absent from AEW TV for the past year. During this time, there has been a lot of speculation about his future. Many reports emerged that suggested that Jericho could be headed back to WWE after his contract expired on December 31, 2025. However, that did not happen. This week on Dynamite, Jericho made his highly anticipated return to the Jacksonville-based promotion to address the fans.

Speaking on his The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, the WWE legend said that Jericho’s return depends on how the company utilizes him. He also said that the fan base won’t be crazy about the former World Champion since they want the younger guys to succeed. He also noted that Jericho is a massive star who could contribute in many ways to the show.

“I mean, I really, I really think it’s all in how you utilize him [Chris Jericho]. If you put him in a certain position, I don’t think that their fan base, which is a pretty, pretty loyal fan base, I would say, I don’t, you know, think they’re gonna be crazy about Chris, you know, because they are, they want their younger guys who are out there with the highest work rate possible and are just go, go, go, go, go, five-star bangers. I mean, you know, that’s kind of, that’s kind of how, that’s what they’re building the place on, right? Where the best wrestle and the best wrestling content and what not. So I mean, Chris being an older act would be just such a star. He has so much star power. There’s so many ways he can contribute to the show, it’s just, they would have to utilize him in the correct way.”

Dave Meltzer commented on the reason Chris Jericho chose to return to AEW over WWE

For the past few months, there have been reports that Chris Jericho could return to WWE, where he could wrap up his career. However, he decided to return to Tony Khan’s company instead.

According to Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Radio, Jericho’s decision to return to AEW is based on longevity since WWE wanted him for a retirement run. He also noted that Jericho would have a creative say in the Jacksonville-based promotion as opposed to WWE.

It remains to be seen if Jericho will continue to feature regularly on AEW programming.

Edited by Sunil Joseph