WWE Hall of Famer says “there’s no reason” for Chris Jericho to have a retirement tour in 2026
As seen during April 1st 2026 edition of AEW Dynamite, Chris Jericho made his return to the company after being off television for a year. According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com, the general belief backstage at Dynamite was that Jericho came to terms with AEW for a new deal.
While speaking on the Something to Wrestle podcast, WWE Hall of Famer JBL (John Layfield) commented on Jericho not returning to WWE for a rumored retirement tour…
“Why end your career? You know, Jericho is still apparently very healthy. He’s still on top of his game. He still looks great. To me, there’s no reason to end a career. There’s no reason to have a retirement tour. Have a tour, but if you want to come back again, come back again. There’s no reason not to.
I think there were a lot of opportunities in WWE other than Gunther. I mean, you had CM Punk, you had Roman Reigns, you had Brock Lesnar, you had Seth Rollins—you had a bunch of guys that Chris has history with that could have been really good. I don’t think that, you know, if that was the pitch, I can see why he said no, because I would have definitely said no myself.
I don’t think people always have to do retirement tours. I think sometimes you can just leave it open-ended. You come back for a while, people see you, then you disappear—and if you want to come back again, you come back again.”