Former WWE and AEW Champion Chris Jericho‘s retirement has been on the minds of fans for years, hoping that this year will not be the final one for Le Champion. Being 51 years of age, time is not on the side for Chris Jericho. However, the end of his illustrious career may not been as soon as many fear and we could be seeing Y2J wrestling in AEW or WWE for some time into the future.
Chris Jericho’s Retirement
Chris Jericho recently spoke to Eric Ball of Bleacher Report at the San Diego Comic-Con about his potential retirement in wrestling. The former AEW and current ROH Champion has been part of AEW since it’s inception in 2019 and before that spent 20 years wrestling for Vince McMahon’s WWE.
Considered one of the greatest of all time, Jericho has wrestled in all major US promotions, including WCW, ECW, WWE and AEW. He even had a stint in NJPW, both early on in his career and when he left WWE in 2017. He made his debut in 1990 and has been wrestling almost nonstop for the past 42 years, minus a brief run between 2005 and 2007 where he left WWE to pursue other projects.
He is now 51 years old and coming to the end of his legendary career. He reigned as the first ever AEW Champion and now holds the ROH Championship after defeating Claudio Castagnoli for the belt at AEW Grand Slam. While fans may be speculating about Jericho ending his long and glorious career, Le Champion has ended all speculation about him potentially retiring any time soon.
Speaking to Eric Ball of Bleacher Report, Chris Jericho revealed retirement is not on his mind and that he is doing some of his best work. He also professes to loving his time in AEW, where he as worked with some of the top talents in the world like Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega and Bryan Danielson.
When asked about if he’s thinking about retiring, Chris Jericho responded;
“No. It’s been such a great run with AEW and it’s really reinvigorated my love for the business. I still think I’m doing some of the best work of my career. I really do.”
AEW fans will be thrilled to hear that Jericho is committed to continuing with the company. He is currently having one of the best runs of his career, at the helm of the hilariously entertaining faction known as the Jericho Appreciation Society.
We may still have many years of Chris Jericho on our TV screens. Whether he eventually retires as part of the AEW roster or returns to WWE for one last run and a Hall of Fame induction for his 20 years of service in the company remains to be seen. However, he has been thinking about his last match in wrestling and his answer to questions about that is one that may shock you.
Chris Jericho’s Last Match
Chris Jericho’s last match in WWE was his appearance in the Saudi Arabia-based Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018, although he continued to wrestle in AEW for a number of years after that. Many fans has speculated who his last match ever in wrestling could be, with one man being brought up many more times than most in regards to his retirement bout.
Chris Jericho revealed in his first book, “A Lion’s Tale” that he and Lance Storm had made a pact at the beginning of their careers. The two men trained together and wrestled their first match ever against each other. Wanting to have the storybook ending to their careers, the pair made agreed to have their last matches in the careers against one another and going out of the business as they came into it.
The due did face off in Lance Storm’s last match. He came out of retirement for one last match at ECW One Night Stand 2005, in honour of both men’s time in the extreme promotion. However, that was 17 years ago now and with no matches in that time, Storm seems unlikely to step into the ring one more time.
Lance Storm backed up this claim in an interview, stating;
Well, we made that pact ages ago. That I had mentioned that I always thought it would be cool to book end my first and last match against the same guy. And he was like, ‘Well, let’s just do it then!’ I’m like, ‘Okay but you’ve got to retire before we’re too old Chris.’”
However, with his retirement this match looks impossible, and Chris Jericho seems not too set on this poetic match being his final. He has previously said he does not want a big send-off and Hall of Fame induction, but simply to ride off into the sunset with people wondering whether or not he was returning to the ring or not.
Speaking to TalkSport, Chris Jericho revealed his retirement match would probably be in a nothing match, against “Someone like Marko Stunt”, and that he “probably wont know” he is taking part in his final match until it’s over.
“No, it doesn’t matter. Because if you look at my career, it’s always been about going out there and making great stuff out of what I’ve been given.
“It’s easy to have a final match against Shawn Michaels or The Undertaker. It’s easy to have a great final match with these great, great workers and to me, I won’t even know when it’s my final match.
“It’ll probably be someone like Marko Stunt. We’ll go out there, have a great match, tear the house down and I’ll go ‘you know what? That’s pretty much it.’
With Marko Stunt now released by AEW, he seems an unlikely opponent, although the sentiment set out by Jericho remains the same.
Who do you think will be Chris Jericho’s retirement match? Let us know who his last match should be against or click below to read about Sin Cara in WWE and why he failed to make an impact