Chris Jericho, in a recent tweet, claims there's interest from "higher-ups" in seeing him interacting with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn "soon."
Despite being one of the top stars in AEW since its inception in 2019, Chris Jericho still maintains a great relationship with many in WWE. Recently, he appeared in a video package on Monday Night Raw to celebrate John Cena's 20th anniversary.
Now, in response to a fan saying that they wanted to see Jericho form a faction with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, Chris Jericho alluded to some in the industry wanting to see that sooner rather than later. Jericho did not state whether the interest came from WWE, AEW, or any other wrestling organization, and used #tampering to close out his tweet.
Hmmm…well Some higher ups want that to happen sooner than later! #tampering https://t.co/PD8kMGgyJq
— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) August 24, 2022
Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho’s story going into WrestleMania 33 was one of Chris Jericho's last major stories in WWE. Chris has gone on record many times saying that their program was supposed to lead to a WWE Universal Championship match, and potential title victory for Y2J, but plans changed and their match, instead, became one for the WWE United States Championship with Kevin Owens defeating Jericho.
Chris Jericho has also gone on record as saying that it was his storyline with Kevin Owens, the changing of the original plan, and its placement on the WrestleMania card that ultimately made Chris Jericho realize that he needed to explore other opportunities in the world of wrestling, leading to his 2018 match against Kenny Omega in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and the subsequent beginning of AEW.
Fightful Select recently reported that a notable AEW name had told AEW management that WWE reach out to them about potentially coming to WWE. However, the AEW talent referred the call to their representation, rather than speaking directly. It should be noted that this tweet is not confirmation that Jericho was the talent in question.
A source close to AEW tells Fightful Select that a notable AEW talent -- who is known to be under contract -- has reported to AEW management that WWE had reached out to them about coming to WWE. We're talent made it clear they are happy with AEW, and felt like higher-ups deserved to know. The performer had also stated to the higher-ups that they didn't have a desire to leave All Elite Wrestling. We've since learned that the talent told Tony Khan directly.
In digging more, we're told that the claim was that a member of WWE's talent relations department contacted the AEW talent. The source close to AEW had indicated to Fightful that they'd referred the call to their representation instead of speaking directly. We were able to confirm that claim with the actual performer, though they wish to remain anonymous as of now. It's worth noting that while we can verify the claim was made, we've learned nothing more about the alleged contact.
Sources familiar with the situation had told Fightful there was no mistake this performer was already under a full-time contract. There's nothing illegal about this tactic, and there's no oversight committee or player's association that prevents this. In the past, WWE has claimed they're very particular about not contract tampering.
WWE is currently under a new creative direction in Triple H following the retirement of Vince McMahon. You can see what Chris Jericho has to say about Vince's retirement at this link.
