Tony Khan Gives Update on Chris Jericho’s AEW Future & Reason Behind His Absence

AEW CEO Tony Khan recently opened up about Chris Jericho’s current status with the Jacksonville-based company and his relationship with the 55-year-old. The Lionheart has been away from AEW TV since the post-Dynasty episode of Dynamite in April 2025.

Initially, it was assumed that Jericho’s commitments with his band, Fozzy, were the reason behind his absence from television. However, as time went on, reports of Y2J leaving All Elite Wrestling following the expiration of his current deal for yet another stint with WWE started surfacing. Jericho himself has been fueling the speculations with his social media activity in recent months.

In a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Tony Khan was asked to comment on his current relationship with Chris Jericho. Khan hailed Jericho as one of the cornerstones of his company and also revealed that he recently reached out to the former WWE Superstar to send birthday greetings.

“Chris Jericho is somebody who is in AEW and has been with us from the very beginning. He’s been away from us for a bit. He is somebody that’s had, even this year, great matches with Bandido, somebody that’s been a world champion for us and was really at the beginning of AEW. Absolutely, as key and instrumental as any individual in the launch of AEW. And I love Chris personally and professionally. I just reached out and wished him a Happy Birthday recently. I’m very excited about everything Chris has done in AEW, and he continues to be with us,” Tony said.

When asked if The Learning Tree will ever return to All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan said that he can’t comment on that. However, he expressed his admiration for Jericho and claimed that the company’s door will always be open for the former AEW World Champion.

“I can’t speak to that, but I love having Chris in AEW, and he’s always welcome. The door is always open for Chris to come in.”

Tony Khan on the reason behind Chris Jericho’s ongoing absence from AEW TV

When asked why exactly Jericho is away from AEW television currently, Tony Khan attributed it to “just working out the dates” and went on to explain how the company and Chris have worked around his busy schedule since the inception of AEW.

“It’s a very good question, and some of it comes down to just working out the dates. (Host: ‘Is his deal almost up?’) I would rather not get into that, but I respect you asking about it, and if I could, I’d give as much information as possible to try and keep a constructive dialogue,” Khan said.

He continued:

“I hope so. 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 really great about being one of those wrestlers in AEW that when he is in, he is all the way in, and if you think, he’s always really been a full-time part of the show. At first, when we started, we talked about finding ways with Chris and Fozzy and his band to keep him involved because he was such a central figure as the original AEW World Champion as Le Champion.

“So there were times when Chris would have videos on Dynamite or make appearances. Even when he offered Jon Moxley my dad’s car, that was actually my dad’s car, to join the Inner Circle in Jacksonville, Chris was actually on his way to the Tokyo Dome, and we had filmed that over the holidays, knowing Chris was going to Japan. So, he filmed this video that we played for Mox to watch after the Mox vs. Trent match on New Year’s Day. And the Mox himself left for Japan right after that. But Jericho was wrestling Tanahashi, and it got over early to do media. And that was in the Tokyo Dome in 2020, and it’s amazing to think, now here we are almost six years later, and Chris has been a huge part of AEW from the very beginning.

“We started out early, like, ‘Okay, how do we find ways to, you know, keep Chris involved if he needed a week or two off?’ And then pretty soon, Chris was just here every week and wanted to be here every week, and we loved having him. So, if we can work out all the dates and all the things, I would always love for him to be here. But he’s one of my favorite wrestlers, and certainly he’s as instrumental to the launch of AEW as anybody.”

Check out the video below:

Please credit The Ariel Helwani Show and give an H/T to 411Mania for the transcription if you take quotes from this article.