Where Chris Jericho Was During WWE Raw Revealed

Despite his return being teased by Raw General Manager Adam Pearce and "Y2J" being chanted throughout the first episode of Raw of 2026, Chris Jericho was nowhere to be seen on Monday night's show from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

PWInsider has since reported that Jericho was never planned for the first Raw of 2026, and the former Undisputed Champion is in Los Angeles this week. The reason for Jericho being in LA is unknown.

The expectation for months has been that Chris Jericho would return to WWE following the expiry of his contract with All Elite Wrestling, which was up at the end of 2025. If Jericho has actually left AEW is currently up in the air, however, as the 55-year-old is still featured on the AEW roster page and Fightful Select has reported there has been no internal memo within AEW about an exit for Jericho.

Fightful also noted Jericho has not been brought up within WWE creative as of yet.

Instead of an actual Jericho return, Adam Pearce's tease simply seems to have been a way to generate buzz for the first Raw of the year and to entice fans to buy last-minute tickets for the show at the Barclays Center. This appears to have worked, with PWInsider reporting there was a "massive line for the box office" when the venue opened on Monday.