@WrestlePurists Jericho's contract was frozen because of his tours and injury time off. That's why he's never been removed from the AEW roster page when his contract was supposed to expire. Meltzer himself reported that. So he's sewing fan discourse between the two companies here like a choad.
Dave Meltzer on Chris Jericho’s AEW return:
“From the WWE standpoint, and I don’t know what they told him. I know I was told that they wanted him for a retirement tour. And maybe that’s not what he wanted, but I don’t know… With AEW, perhaps he was gonna get more longevity. There’s a lot of advantages for AEW, and there’s always money. He may have been offered more money in AEW… His money situation is probably pretty great, I would think. He made a lot of money in these years in AEW.
I think that at this point, especially at the age he’s at, he’s gonna want to do what’s creatively fulfilling and fun. AEW’s a little bit of a risk in the sense of… He’ll probably have more input into what he’s gonna do in AEW than he would in WWE, but he’d have a better audience in WWE, I think for sure. The better audience, that is certainly part of the deal, but money is part of the deal. Creative freedom is part of the deal. What each side’s plans are is part of the deal. There’s a lot of other factors involved. I think there’s less risk in WWE in the sense that the crowd is not gonna be as difficult for him in WWE.
But this was his decision. His decision was AEW, and I’m sure that he considered every one of these points and many other points when making this decision.”
(WOR | @WONF4W)
The current favorites to win the confirmed championship matches for WWE WrestleMania 42:
- Randy Orton def. Cody Rhodes (c) - WWE Championship
- Roman Reigns def. CM Punk (c) - World Heavyweight Championship
- Liv Morgan def. Stephanie Vaquer (c) - Women's World Championship
- Rhea Ripley def. Jade Cargill (c) - WWE Women's Championship
(William Hill)
MJF says he doesn’t think he’ll ever leave AEW:
“What keeps me at AEW is my ability to be myself. There's no leash on me. I don't have to worry about anybody sitting me down and telling me what I'm doing right or wrong.
My boss knows I'm the draw. I have the World Title right now. Ratings are up, ticket sales are up. I wonder why? And he lets me do my thing, so I don't think I'll ever leave."
(KVIA ABC-7)
PWlnsider on Chris Jericho’s current status amid speculation of him returning tonight:
“We have heard from no one in WWE who believes Chris Jericho will be there tonight live in NYC as of this writing. Jericho is still listed on the AEW roster page.”
John Cena reiterates that his heel turn was done to create a big moment without there being a fleshed out plan moving forward:
“They wanted to make Elimination Chamber a moment. I get it. The business is about making moments. There's nothing wrong with that. You don't always have to have a nine-month trajectory. You can understand that like, ‘Yo we got a ton of eyes on tonight. Let's do something impactful, and then you as artists can run through the maze and figure it out.’
So in February, they just wanted to make a moment. And they asked me to be part of it.”
(What Do You Wanna Talk About?)
@LehighLightning@WrestleOps You missed his entire interview when he said "I have this idea", "I wanna do this", and "I'd like to work xxx matches". They gave him NOTHING. Creative control my ass
@WrestleOps People actually blaming HHH is laughable! Cena has creative control. He pressed for weeks that this show was about the future stars and elevating them. His “loss” was by his design. I wish it would have been to a better superstar than Gunther though.
@AnfieldRoute@WrestleOps Did you miss the whole part where Cena himself said "I'd like to do this", "I have this idea", and "here's the amount of matches I was thinking"? They gave him NOTHING he wanted. Trips got booed and he LAUGHED. That's what TKO is doing, they're laughing at all of us
@WrestleOps It’s so fucking out of order for people to make this moment about what THEY wanted. Just appreciate John Cena in his final match, show HIM the respect he deserves for a 25 year career we all enjoyed.
The selfishness, the entitlement is staggering. I hate wrestling fans SO much.
Tony Khan discusses Chris Jericho's future with AEW:
"I love having Chris in AEW, and he’s always welcome. I absolutely hope we’ll get Chris back in. A star like Chris Jericho—you negotiate a certain number of dates—and Chris has always been great about being one of those wrestlers in AEW who, when he’s in, is all the way in."
5 years ago today on Dynamite, Chris Jericho and Inner Circle made this hilarious parody video package featuring Soultrain Jones & Patricia Bobski.
All just to mock Cody. 😭