Will Y2J Return During Raw’s First Anniversary on Netflix?
For weeks now there have been heavy rumors that Chris Jericho’s AEW contract will be expiring and he will be returning to WWE once again. While a Royal Rumble return for Y2J would make sense, it seems like Raw’s first anniversary on Netflix at the Barclays Center will most likely be the place where WWE’s six-time World Champion will make his highly anticipated return. In all probability, Y2J will return during or after the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between Bron Breakker and CM Punk. If ‘The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla’ return leads to a Breakker victory, we could see an epic rivalry from WrestleMania XXVIII reignite between Jericho and Punk. Yet, ‘The Lionheart’ as a face against Breakker could also be a legendary feud that culminates in a great championship run for the young upstart within The Vision.
At 55 years old, this potential contract will be Jericho’s last before officially retiring. With his career spanning 35 years, Y2K has done it all. He’s wrestled in Japan and Mexico before signing with Smokey Mountain Wrestling in 1994. Two years later, Jericho appeared in ECW multiple times and signed with WCW. By 1999, ‘The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla’ had built himself to be a household name within WCW, Japan, and Mexico. By this time, WWE had a huge interest in signing Jericho. He would interrupt The Rock on his Monday Night Raw debut and, since then, has gone on to have a Hall of Fame career. Y2J would stay with the company until 2010, but returned in 2011 until departing again in 2018. He returned to NJPW and the independent circuit before making a surprise appearance in AEW in January 2019. From there, he became the inaugural AEW World Champion and created several stables, such as The Inner Circle, the Jericho Appreciation Society, and The Learning Tree.
Jericho left WWE back in 2018 as he believed, as well as many fans from the WWE Universe, that Y2J’s feud with Kevin Owens was the best storyline happening at the time, yet WWE pushed them down the card for other returning superstars. Owens was the Universal Champion, and Jericho was his best friend. The two were always around one another and were super close, until Owens admitted he did not need the first-ever Undisputed Champion by his side anymore. At Fastlane 2017, in a Universal Championship match against the returning Goldberg, Jericho returned to shock Owens, which led to Goldberg winning the title. Removing the Universal Championship from this feud and using the championship for a feud with Brock Lesnar and Goldberg, while pushing Jericho and Owens down the card, impacted Y2J’s decision to leave the company.
We still do not know what to expect when it comes to a Y2J return. However, I suspect that we could see another World Championship reign as well as Jericho capturing a record 10th Intercontinental Championship. Depending on whether Jericho is done after 2026 or once this new contract expires, it sets the stage for what’s going to be next for The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla.’ The WWE Universe has been waiting for Y2J to make his return to the WWE scene, and it looks like it’s going to finally happen. It’s just a matter of where? At Barclays Center on Monday or at the Royal Rumble?
