Chris Jericho: ‘I am banned from WWE’

Really, the reaction to this revelation from Chris Jericho on the Mar. 28 Jim Norton & Sam Roberts’ Sirius XM morning show is just, “no crap - you signed with a rival company”. And even Jericho himself seems to know that.

It’s also just confirmation of what many folks have noticed. WWE Superstars haven’t been popping up on Talk Is Jericho since Chris signed with All Elite Wrestling, and mentions of his name have been bleeped out of recent editions of Battle of the Brands on Xavier Woods’ YouTube channel.

Surprise or no, here it is:

“I’ve talked with him [Vince McMahon] a couple of times, but I’m kind of public enemy number one there now. I’ve been kind of removed from the annals of history. I asked the other day if I could have a couple of their guys on my podcast to promote Mania and I was told, ‘No, it’s not appropriate because you’re in AEW.’

I am banned from WWE.

I think my stuff is still on there [WWE Network]. I haven’t been disgraced. But as far as I know, they had to take some videos down from UpUpDownDown of me playing. Took that off. They edited some stuff from the Edge and Christian show that had my name on it.”

What you don’t get from transcribed quotes is that Y2J delivered off this, if not tongue-in-cheek, then with his characteristic promotional flair. “Banned from WWE” will grab more headlines - and therefore help sell more cruise packages - than saying “business is business”, so there you go.

He certainly doesn’t say “I am banned from WWE for life”. At some point, he’ll be back. Question is whether that’s while AEW is a thriving operation or after it’s flamed out.

Because how Vince books his comeback could depend on that.

H/T: With Spandex