The latest Chris Jericho news could be forecasting his return for WWE at WrestleMania 42. Jericho has been one of the hottest names on the market since his AEW contract was announced to end in early 2026. Injury time has been added to prolong Jericho’s free agency, but rumors have been running rampant that he is more likely to return to WWE than AEW.
An interesting new update via Fightful saw Jericho securing the legal copyright to “the cornerstone” for wrestling purposes:
“Chris Jericho has filed an application to trademark a new term for wrestling-related purposes. Fightful reports that the AEW star filed an application to trademark the term “Cornerstone.” The filing was made on March 25th. The description for the mark lists both merchandise and wrestling-related content.”
Jericho has made a history out of coming up with new gimmicks and concepts for his character. Logic would dictate that Jericho is planning to call himself “The Cornerstone” as his next character for either a WWE or AEW return. Jericho’s trademark was filed with the intent to sell merchandise and utilize the moniker as his own under full legal rights.
Good News For Chris Jericho’s WWE Return
Wrestling fans are trying to find out if the Cornerstone trademark will lean towards Jericho needing a new gimmick for his WWE return or if he’s sticking it out with AEW. Jericho was booed consistently by AEW fans in the final year of his run with the fan base growing quite sick of him.
The smart money would be on Jericho and AEW both realizing it is time to part ways after he did all he could in the early years. WWE could easily see Jericho return playing a cornerstone of the wrestling industry since he’s one of the last active stars from the Attitude Era.
Fans will be ecstatic to see a legend like Jericho returning under any context, so this would easily allow him to play into his history as an undisputed legend. Jericho’s last WWE run featured him coming up with “the list” for comedic moments involving Kevin Owens. A change is clearly needed, and WWE is unlikely to use Jericho’s most recent AEW Learning Tree gimmick.
Bad News For Chris Jericho’s WWE Return
Some fans are taking the news as more of a sign that Jericho is looking to return to AEW. Tony Khan developed a close relationship with Jericho and unofficially made him one of the locker room leaders for many years.
The Cornerstone name could easily be applied to AEW since Jericho was one of the company’s first cornerstone pieces. Jericho was the first ever AEW World Champion and the biggest name who helped the company get established as a new wrestling brand.
One could argue that the nickname is a better sign for the AEW return, but it also could make sense for WWE in the broader term. Jericho’s next move will only be confirmed when he shows up for one of the companies, and the trademark implies it’s coming soon. WWE has gone all in on nostalgia and would love to use Jericho at WrestleMania 42 if he is available to them.
Surprising Chris Jericho News Could Forecast WWE WM Return