It is possible that Chris Jericho may be taking a lot of time off from AEW between December 2021 and May 2022. It had been reported by multiple wrestling websites in October that Jericho may be taking time off in December due to a Fozzy tour in the UK. Those reports also pointed out that Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer said Jericho might still do pre-tapes while on tour, depending on what storylines are going on during that time.
We can now confirm that Chris Jericho may be off of TV even longer, with a bunch of new worldwide touring dates announced on the Fozzy website. The initially reported UK tour from November 29 until December 12 is still taking place, however additional tour dates have been announced between February and May.
From February 22-26 Fozzy will be doing a tour in Australia alongside Buckcherry. Since AEW still primarily tours the United States and does not have a non-Fite TV deal in Australia, I think it is safe to presume that Jericho will not be on TV during that period, at least in a wrestling capacity.
Fozzy will then take a break from touring until the end of March, however from March 14-18 the Chris Jericho Cruise will be taking place, featuring a variety of talent from across the wrestling world.
Fozzy then goes back on tour throughout the United States between March 31 and May 16. While it is possible that due to the frequency of dates Jericho may be off TV during this period, it should be noted that there are no Wednesday shows during this tour, meaning he could still show up Dynamite consistently, depending on whether the tour locations make attending AEW shows convenient for Jericho.
My Thoughts
As with when Jericho taking time off was last rumoured, I feel that whether he actually disappears from TV in any considerable way is dependent on what storylines he has going on and whether or not AEW make a concerted effort to write him off during the tour.
Personally, I feel that if he is taking time off from TV, it would make most sense for him to be written off in the next few weeks and to come back sometime after Revolution (since it is being rumoured that Revolution is taking place late February) to feud with whoever writes him off until Double or Nothing. The alternative of course would be he just simply doesn’t show up in December, comes back for a bit in January, disappears for a bit during the Australian tour and cruise and comes back after that.
Either way, I personally think he will still show up on TV during the US tour, since he was consistently on TV during the period of his last US Fozzy dates, which also conveniently didn’t run on the same day as Dynamite.
Either way, keep any eye on this space for any potential further information regarding whether or not Chris Jericho is taking a significant break from AEW.
