Okay, so, this idea came to me yesterday and I gotta get this out there before stuff happens that negates it or whatever. And this sort of random writing is what this blog is meant to be about, so, here we go.
As I write this, there are rumors in the wrestling fandom that Chris Jericho-- longtime wrestling veteran, sometime rock musician, and multi-time world champion-- may be returning to WWE. In what capacity isn't known, but below the break I'll give as brief a summary as I can of relevant details before getting into some fantasy booking.
Some Setup
Chris Jericho's Career
I'm not going to go into minute detail about Jericho's wrestling career, but I'll cover some relevant parts. After getting trained in his native Canada, Jericho worked pretty much all over the world. He had stints in Japan, in Mexico, and started making a bigger name for himself when he was signed to WCW, where he won the Cruiserweight and Television Championships. His over-the-top "rockstar" persona helped him get over, primarily as a heel, but his technical work and charisma got him popular.
Jericho jumped ship to WWE in 1999, where he became known as "Y2J" and he more or less never looked back. He's become a Grand Slam Champion (winning three different major singles championships as well as a tag team championship) and was the first person to win WWE's Undisputed Championship (formed from the merger of the WWE and WCW World Championships) by beating no less than The Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin back to back on the same night.
He kept his character fresh as well through reinvention and taking hiatuses. Admittedly, the hiatuses were because, in addition to his wrestling career, Jericho is the frontman of the rock band Fozzy, and he was doing tours during those breaks from wrestling. His returns were greeted with big pops and he did his best to freshen up his wrestling persona, changing subtly or sometimes not so subtly. Always retaining a little egocentricity, he's gone from being a rockstar to an intense "serious" villain to a sadistic brawler to a condescending veteran "guiding" the younger talent.
Jericho left WWE in 2017, and made waves when he announced he would wrestle at New Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 12, where he would face the company's gaijin "ace" Kenny Omega. The match, Jericho's first non-WWE match since 1999, was extremely well-received and marked a brief run in NJPW, where Jericho would win their Intercontinental Championship, but then he signed up with the upstart All Elite Wrestling, defeating Omega again in their inaugural event, Double or Nothing (2019), and then defeat Hangman Page at All Out to become the first AEW World Champion.
Jericho's run in AEW was expected to be a case of a longtime veteran of wrestling using his star power to "make" new superstars. However, as time went on, AEW fans started to grow weary of Jericho. He'd built a heel stable around himself, which could have been a great opportunity to help build up younger wrestlers, but his feuds tended to spiral on and on, causing fans to lose interest when his feuds just didn't seem to end, ultimately leading to his rivals not getting over. Fans started referring to this as the "Jericho Vortex," even as Jericho went from AEW to its "sister" promotion Ring of Honor to win its World Championship. After losing the ROH title, he disbanded his current stable and took himself off TV, as his character had just become too stale.
Rumors started swirling as 2025 came to a close that Jericho's contract with AEW was expiring and that he wasn't expected to re-sign, as WWE had shown interest. There was some question about when his contract would run out, but it was generally believed to be around the time of the 2026 Royal Rumble event.
Recent WWE Events
In WWE, 2025 saw the rise of The Vision, the new heel faction formed around Seth "Freakin" Rollins and his manager/"oracle" Paul Heyman. Rollins suffered a shoulder injury that put him on the shelf, but Heyman's pivoted to now shepherding the rest of the Vision-- Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, Logan Paul, and the recent addition Austin Theory. Breakker's volatile hotheadedness, combined with the Vision's tendency to disregard authority while they work to push their "vision" of the future and force the Raw brand (and later WWE as a whole) into line. This has caused them to clash with Raw's General Manager, Adam Pearce, and also with Raw's World Heavyweight Champion, CM Punk, as Breakker and the Vision want the title as part of their end goals.
Pearce developed from a sort of milquetoast management representative into a pseudo-effective GM, a neutral authority figure that was a breath of fresh air after decades of heel authorities in wrestling. He held heels accountable but also did not necessarily skew in the favor of faces. Frequently Pearce came across as exasperated at the general havoc running amok backstage in WWE, doing his best to keep things from getting too out of hand.
On 12 Jan 2026, one week after Breakker's failure to dethrone Punk, Pearce knew that the "unpredictable badass" would be In A State, so he told Heyman to send Breakker home when he showed up, not wanting him to disrupt the show. This did not happen, as Breakker interrupted the Vision's match against Penta and Dragon Lee, leading to Pearce coming out to yell at him and Heyman about the whole thing, and them basically just distracting him long enough to continue to hit the luchadors with beatdowns. When Breakker hit Penta with his trademark spear, Pearce angrily grabbed his arm to turn him around for admonishment-- but this set off Breakker, who furiously shoved him back into the corner, screaming in his face. While the Vision and security pulled Breakker back, it enraged Pearce enough to suspend him indefinitely. Heyman calmly said that was unwise, because while Breakker had put his hands on Pearce, the GM had put his hands on Breakker first.
One week later, Pearce parked himself ringside for the Vision's match against Rey Mysterio, Penta, and Dragon Lee, to make sure that they didn't try to pull any of their tactics, and when a set of brass knuckles came into play, he specifically took them away. Heyman got in his face about it, while professing ignorance about what the knuckles were even doing there, and then remonstrated Heyman in the aisle as Rey used the knuckles to help his team win. Backstage after the fact, Heyman berated Pearce for his overreach and insinuated that he'd lose his job over it, while Pearce got some phone call. This was followed up by Pearce later asking to speak to Breakker, man-to-man, to try to clear the air and get things under control.
The Fantasy Booking
I frequently will discuss wrestling with some of my coworkers or with my roommates or friends, and sometimes that will spark off into my own extrapolating on potential story development. It was that, combined with a speculation thread I saw on the r/SquaredCircle sub-reddit, that led to this whole thing.
Raw, January 26
Adam Pearce has his sit-down with Bron Breakker, who is backed up by Paul Heyman. The segment is presented as an "earlier today" pre-taped thing. Pearce tries to keep things professional, admitting that he has a stressful job, trying to keep everything from boiling into complete anarchy, and that he let that stress get to him when he "laid hands" on Breakker. However, he points out that Breakker and the Vision's lack of respect for his position had not helped that. He doesn't expect Breakker or the Vision to like him, "but you will respect the authority of my office." Breakker and Heyman, for their part, are just disrespectful enough to be irritating, while still maintaining that veneer of professionalism that Pearce can't fault them for it. To smooth things over, Pearce will arrange for another championship match against CM Punk, the contract to be signed next week. But he also cautions them that if the Vision so much as lays a finger on Pearce, Punk, or anyone outside of their matches, if they let things get out of control, then the match is off, and Breakker's suspension will stand. They agree.
Raw, February 2
There are a couple of backstage segments with regards to the story. CM Punk isn't exactly happy with having to defend his title against Bron Breakker again, but Pearce explains that his hands were tied. Heyman and the Vision were ready to push things into legal proceedings and get him removed from the office of GM. Punk acknowledges that, but also says it's not fair to him that he's having to pay the consequences for Pearce's actions. Pearce agrees and apologizes, handing him the contract and asking him to review it before the signing later.
He later goes to talk to the Vision, who sort of loom over him, but Heyman stands them down as Pearce reminds them that if they so much as lay a finger on him before that contract is signed, the deal is off, and he'll be handing out suspensions to everyone concerned. He gives them the contract for review as well, and adds that he expects them to stay on their best behavior.
Closing segment of the show becomes the contract signing. The usual fare here, with a table set up in the ring and two office chairs on either side. Pearce has security on hand to keep things from erupting into chaos, and brings out Punk and Breakker, the latter accompanied by Heyman and the Vision. Some of the usual smack-talk happens, with a confident Punk declaring he's going to put Bron and the Vision in the rearview after he's beaten him again, and with a seething Breakker promising that he's going to finish what he started and do what he said he was going to do, which is beat Punk and become world champion. The Vision follows this up by saying they're men of their word, they won't lay a finger on Punk before the match, so that he doesn't have the excuse of not being at 100% for losing to Bron. They sign the contract, and Pearce announces, "It's official." The match will be next week on Raw.
Punk stares down Breakker before leaving the ring, at which point Breakker turns to Pearce, confirming that "The deal's finished now, right?" When Pearce confirms it, Breakker blasts him with the microphone. The Vision wipes out the security guards in the ring-- others are in the aisle, trying to keep Punk from storming back to the ring-- and Breakker and Bronson Reed lay out Pearce with a spear, then set him up for Reed's Tsunami top-rope splash through the table. Logan Paul and Austin Theory hold off Punk in the aisle for when he breaks past security, just keeping him from coming to the rescue as Reed hits some more Tsunamis on Pearce-- the sort of thing that has put other wrestlers on the shelf for long periods. We close out the show with the Vision standing tall in the ring over a crushed Adam Pearce.
Raw, February 9
We open the show with Paul "Triple H" Levesque in the ring. He addresses what happened last week, stating that there will be repercussions paid for assaulting the General Manager, and says that Adam Pearce won't be able to fulfill his responsibilities as GM "for the foreseeable future." He can't have Raw without a General Manager, so he needed to find somebody to step in to handle that job. Someone with a veteran's eye for the business, someone who can keep things in line, who knows how the business works. And so he introduces the new GM for Raw, Chris Jericho.
Jericho comes out, wearing a suit, but he gets the big pop. I don't know if WWE would license Fozzy's "Judas" to be his theme (as he'd been using it outside of WWE) or if they go back to using "Break the Walls Down" as has been his theme in WWE since the outset. In any case, Jericho cuts a good face promo as the fans welcome him back, promising he's going to run Raw his way, and make sure that things don't get out of hand.
Over the course of the show, we see that he's interrupting any backstage altercations before they get too out of hand, quick to sic security on people and get them separated. "I will have order on my show!" becomes something of a new catchphrase as he does this. He prevents things like the Judgment Day's ladies from further attacking their rivals like Stephanie Vaquer or Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky, but he also approaches Rey Mysterio, Penta, and Dragon Lee to issue them a fine for using brass knuckles against the Vision.
CM Punk gets a moment or two with him as well, with Jericho acknowledging they've had their issues in the past, but he's asking Punk to let the past stay in the past and try not to judge him now for some "minor clashes" they've had in the past. Punk clearly doesn't completely buy it, but he just tells Jericho he'll hold him accountable from this point forward. Jericho just smiles and says that's good enouogh.
He also gets some face time with the Vision, with Heyman greeting him almost eagerly, as they denigrate Pearce and the way he ran things. Jericho shuts that down, noting that for his faults, Pearce was still doing the best he could, and reiterates something that Pearce had said, "You don't have to like me, but you will respect this office." He tells them that he's going to be watching the main event very closely to make sure the Vision doesn't get involved. "I will have order on my show."
Jericho keeps true to his word, joining commentary for the main event as CM Punk defends his World Heavyweight Championship against Bron Breakker. He puts over both men, from Punk's well-honed instincts and technique, to Bron's fearsome combination of speed and power and his tremendous upside. There's a couple of moments when Heyman tries to get involved by getting on the apron and distracting the referee, during which Jericho leaves commentary and yells at Heyman until he backs down, or stands up at commentary and stares down Heyman until he quits interfering.
In the close of the match, however, the referee gets taken out, and Jericho is calling through the headset to try to get another official to come out, maybe medical as well. But then the Vision can be seen coming down the aisle, at which point Jericho starts screaming for security and leaves the desk, intercepting the Vision in the aisle long enough for security to come out and corral them. Another referee comes out, with Jericho stopping him and looking like he's giving him some instructions, while in the ring Punk has hit Breakker with the GTS finish. But then another figure comes out of the crowd-- Will Hobbs, another former AEW wrestler whose contract recently closed out and is reportedly WWE-bound. Hobbs gets in the ring and plants Punk with a big powerslam before sliding out of the ring. Jericho visibly sees this happening, and only after Hobbs leaves the ring does he let the new referee go. Breakker gets back up, lines up Punk and spears him before pinning him to claim the championship. Hobbs joins Jericho in the aisle as the Vision joins Breakker in the ring to celebrate.
Raw, February 16
We open with GM Jericho in the ring, with Hobbs alongside him in a suit of his own. Jericho shouts down the heat from the crowd, reminding them "I will have order on my show!" And he implies this is why he made certain that Punk lost the title. Because Punk is anti-authority by his very nature, and has never played well with those in charge. Jericho reminds everyone that Punk is the same person who walked out on the WWE in 2011 with the title, and then walked out on the company again in 2014, and when he returned to wrestling, he walked out on them too. "I can't afford to have that kind of volatility as the face of my show." And to keep that kind of volatility in check, Jericho needs a "troubleshooter," which is where Hobbs comes in. He calls Hobbs "a real powerhouse" (as a nod to his AEW ringname Powerhouse Hobbs) and promises that if you try to disrespect the authority of his office, then you're asking for trouble, and if you're asking for trouble, then that's where my troubleshooter comes in."
Moving Forward & Rationale
From this point onward, my fantasy booking is more sparse, but we put Jericho in as a heel authority figure, but not necessarily one that's only biased toward the heels. He still will send security and/or Hobbs to deal with interference or chaos, but he also will skew things against the faces if they criticize how he does things.
Punk will naturally want his rematch, and when Jericho looks like he'll delay it or deny it, Punk suggests legal action, so Jericho agrees, but he also will noticeably delay sending security and/or Hobbs to interrupt any Vision beatdowns. Punk loses the rematch, and ends up having to jump through more hoops than other people to get into contendership consideration. And if Punk complains about it, Jericho taunts him, "What are you gonna do about it? Walk away again?" The hypocrisy of Jericho holding Punk's past against him after pointedly asking Punk to not hold the past against him should be obvious.
I think Jericho's time as a full-time in-ring competitor is done. Toward the end of his AEW run, he wasn't moving as swiftly as he used to, and while he was trying to adapt his in-ring style to suit an older frame, it just wasn't clicking like it used to. It didn't help that he'd adapted a spinning back elbow strike as a finish, frequently looked like he was barely connecting. In contrast, Andrade El Idolo (also in AEW at the time) was doing a much faster and crisper version (albeit non-finisher) that looked like it might legit knock somebody out. Transitioning Jericho into a management/non-wrestling role might be a better use of his talents on the microphone, and he can still take a bump if he needs to, and can be beaten up/humiliated when needs be to give faces some heat back.
Bringing in Will Hobbs as his on-air heavy will give him an easy "in" with the crowds, and it wouldn't be difficult to split him off from Jericho down the line when the association is done. Jericho can also turn face pretty easily if needs be. His natural charisma will help tremendously there.
And there you have it. Fantasy booking complete! What do you think? Let me know in a comment or whatever. Thanks for reading this far!
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