Following some major teases before RAW, many believed that Chris Jericho was set for his imminent return to WWE. A report has come in regarding the potential reason why the promotion made these hints.

A few days ago, Adam Pearce gave a rundown of this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW, including three major title matches. He ended using the phrase “break the walls down” as a way to discuss which individual would go the distance to win the gold. This led to speculation that this was a hint regarding Jericho’s arrival. He ended up not appearing at all.

It was then reported by PWInsider that Pearce was not referencing Chris Jericho, but to Stranger Things, as RAW’s special episode is in collaboration with the hit show. On the latest episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer mentioned how the entire thing was done to move sales, seeing as it looked as if the show was not going to sell out.

“The excuse was, “Break the walls down”, was a reference to Stranger Things. They actually said that. Here’s the deal: they told you Jericho was going to be there, and he wasn’t there. They can say they didn’t, but they did. And, in doing so they disappointed people. I think that the whole idea was, ticket sales, they weren’t going to sell out. I don’t think they sold out but I think they came very, very close. But they sold a lot of tickets at the very end and because of that, I think those people thought we’re gonna see a happening.”

He mentioned that the ticket sales were weak for the show, despite CM Punk vs. Bron Breakker being announced. Ticket sales did move when the title matches were announced, but this was still not a sellout.

“If it was [CM] Punk and Bron Breakker, they were not moving tickets. I was stunned. The original advance for this show was very, very weak. Then they announced Punk vs. Bron Breakker, they announced the women’s match weeks ago and tickets did start to move but it was not heading to sell out levels. I think they really wanted a sell out bad so the last desperation move was we’re not gonna say Jericho’s coming but we’re gonna hint Jericho’s coming.” [H/T TJRWrestling]

Chris Jericho claim also debunked by another source

Apart from Dave Meltzer, another journalist debunked the claim that Adam Pearce’s words were intended to be a Stranger Things reference.

Sean Ross Sapp replied to a post on X/Twitter regarding the report and had a direct response. He claimed that this was not the case, and seemed to confirm what everyone was thinking: WWE intentionally put out false rumors about Chris Jericho.

It will be interesting to see where Chris Jericho ends up going, as this may still be the case of his WWE return being booked for a different show. He could also still end up pulling off a major swerve and staying with AEW.