With so much speculation surrounding Chris Jericho's in-ring future, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross—who still serves on the AEW commentary team—has now weighed in with his thoughts. Like most people, he's convinced that Y2J is WWE-bound.
There was no sign of Jericho on the January 5 episode of RAW, a special edition that marked a year since the Monday night show debuted on Netflix. Now, all eyes have turned to the Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia later this month (keeping his arrival in the country under wraps won't be hard).
"I think it’s WWE or nothing for [Chris] Jericho. He’s happy," Ross says in the video below. "He’s got a lot of influence in AEW, basically, to simplify, he books his own angles. He works with the creative guys, and they communicate well. Chris [Jericho] doesn’t come empty-handed; he always got a plan."
"But I think his goal, if it’s to leave AEW, he’s got a great deal. I’m under the impression, he’s got a great deal, then I think it’s WWE or stay where he is," the iconic voice of professional wrestling added. "I don’t think the TNA thing plays into it but I could be wrong. Money changes a lot of opinion, sentiment. I hope he doesn’t leave."
"He’s such a valuable member of AEW. He does a lot of things, people don’t see, helping talent, counselling talent, coming up with ideas, and so forth. And I think Tony Khan needs guys like Chris Jericho to contribute ideas."
After expressing his hope that Jericho might stay—which doesn't seem likely, given that he's not been on AEW television since last April—Ross went on to admit that Le Champion jumping ship to WWE would come as a blow to Tony Khan's company.
"Him leaving would hurt the brand to a degree. No doubt. You can’t lose a talent like Chris Jericho and say that, 'Oh well, we’ll just move on, it doesn’t matter. We got other guys that are ready to step up,' and I hope that’s true," Ross noted. "But, bottom line of it is that he’s got options, and that’s a smart guy."
Short of a major swerve by AEW, Jericho has likely signed a WWE contract at some point since the New Year. He was written off AEW television in April, and quickly made headlines for liking a social media post speculating about what a possible WWE return could look like.
Despite having been dismissive of the idea of a WWE return since 2019, he seems to have had a change of heart in 2025. Jericho has remained fiercely loyal to AEW and Tony Khan over the years (which isn't hugely surprising when he's widely believed to be among the highest-paid stars in the company), but fell out of favour with fans during the last year or so of his run.
Whether the dissatisfaction AEW devotees expressed with Jericho seemingly prioritising himself over the younger talent he shared the ring with extended to Khan isn't clear. Either way, all signs point to the multi-time World Champion wanting to end his career in a WWE ring.
You can hear more Ross in the player below.