AEW star Chris Jericho drops a surprising John Cena reference

Chris Jericho has been absent from AEW programming for several weeks now. Amid his hiatus, The Learning Tree has shared a throwback social media post harkening back to his WWE rivalry with John Cena.

Jericho was last seen on All Elite Wrestling television in April, when he walked out on his proteges Big Bill and Bryan Keith after lashing out at them for not helping him retain his ROH World Championship against Bandido at Dynasty 2025. In his absence, The Redwood and The Bad Apple feuded with and defeated The Gates of Agony, and could now be poised to take on The WorkHorsemen.

Reports from earlier this month suggest that there are no immediate plans for Jericho's programming return, even though he has seemingly finished up his latest tour with his band Fozzy. Amid his continued on-screen hiatus, the inaugural AEW World Champion recently took to his Instagram Story and shared a clip of himself attacking John Cena in WWE, back when they were feuding in 2005.

You can check out screengrabs from Chris Jericho's Instagram Story below.

Chris Jericho locking John Cena in the Liontamer/Walls of Jericho [Image source: Jericho's Instagram]

The Last Real Champion defended his WWE Title on several occasions against Jericho in 2005, including two pay-per-views, namely Vengeance and SummerSlam.

AEW's Chris Jericho on the idea of a WWE return

Chris Jericho has played a crucial role in helping AEW grow as a promotion since its foundation in 2019. However, fans of Y2J's work in WWE often speculate on his eventual return to the sports entertainment juggernaut. Addressing the topic a couple of months ago at the Horror, Rock & Wrestle Fest in Manchester, Jericho revealed that a prospective WWE comeback would depend on his professional situation at the time of consideration.

"I would have considered a return to WWE before things changed. I mean, you’d be crazy not to consider it," said Jericho. "It just depends on what the situation is and what’s going on with me at the time. We’ll see." [H/T: SEScoops]

It remains to be seen what might lie next for Jericho in All Elite Wrestling.

About the author

Anurag is an AEW writer for Sportskeeda Wrestling. He holds a BA and MA degree in English along with a TEFL certification to teach English. Before Sportskeeda, he worked as a Content and Correspondence writer at Nayabad Titas, a theater group. He has also worked as a English language tutor.

To ensure complete accuracy, he uses internet resources, social media platforms, and especially pieces composed by his peers to find solid, verified information that he presents as objectively as possible. Thanks to his academic background, he can research different subjects thoroughly.

Anurag's interest in wrestling began as a child. He watched RAW and Smackdown frequently from age 10 or 11 and was officially hooked by the YES Movement story in WWE heading into WrestleMania 30.

As a lifelong wrestling fan and lover of stories, Anurag would read news, articles, and other content about the talent and events he enjoyed watching. His understanding of the business continued to grow with time, and his interest in the art and sport of wrestling led him to pursue a career as a writer.

Apart from writing, he loves to read books, watch movies and television programs, play and listen to music, and write poetry and fiction.

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Edited by Anurag Mukherjee