When Chris Jericho's AEW contract expired in late 2025, many fans assumed he would make his way back to WWE to embark on the final leg of his career, but that wasn't the case. Instead, he would keep people guessing throughout the start of 2026 and Jericho eventually re-emerged on "AEW Dynamite" in April, almost a year to the day from his last match in the company against Bandido at AEW Dynasty 2025. "You weigh your options, but I helped start AEW. I didn't help start WWE, I didn't help start New Japan Pro Wrestling, or CMLL, or ECW, or WCW, or any of those places that I worked in the past, I helped start AEW. Jericho explained that seeing AEW grow over the time he's been there is something he takes great pride in and is extremely proud to be a part of AEW.