# Chris Jericho explains why he did not leave AEW for WWE return 2026-08-15T17:13:05+00:00 | Sports | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Chris Jericho has told the Wrestling Observer Radio that he stayed with AEW instead of returning to WWE early in 2026 because he helped found the company. Jericho said: 'I've got skin in the game in AEW. I helped start AEW. And in a lot of ways, if there was no Chris Jericho, there might not have been an AEW.' He rejoined AEW in April after WWE fans had hoped he would appear at the Royal Rumble 2026 in Saudi Arabia or the Elimination Chamber event, where Danhausen emerged from a crate instead. Jericho left WWE for AEW in 2018 and became its first world champion in August 2019. The news outlet notes that Cody Rhodes and CM Punk have left AEW for WWE in recent years, with Rhodes winning the Undisputed Universal Championship at Wrestlemania 40 and Punk currently holding the WWE Championship. ## Coverage - timesnownews.com This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: AEW, Chris Jericho, Cody Rhodes, Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/chris-jericho-explains-why-he-did-not-leave-aew-for-wwe-return/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/chris-jericho-explains-why-he-did-not-leave-aew-for-wwe-return/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/