Chris Jericho & Jim Ross Return On AEW Dynamite

JR returns to the commentary booth, while Le Champion makes a surprise return.

by Andrew Pollard
Jim Ross AEW Dynamite New Year's Smash
AEW.com

With this week's AEW Dynamite now in the record books, two legends made their return to AEW television in the shape of Jim Ross and Chris Jericho.

It was announced ahead of time that Ross would be returning on the 29 December episode of Dynamite, and that indeed proved the case. Good ol' JR was brought out at the start of the broadcast, with him receiving a standing ovation from the Daily's Place crowd. Ross had been absent from AEW programming while he underwent radiation treatment for skin cancer.

While we knew that Jim Ross was returning on last night's AEW Dynamite, the return of Chris Jericho was more of a shocker.

Le Champion made his return after the Eddie Kingston, Santana & Ortiz vs. Daniel Garcia & 2point0 contest, coming to the rescue after the heels attacked Santana with the ring bell after the villainous trio had picked up the somewhat surprising win. This 'save' saw Jericho receive thanks from his two Inner Circle buddies, but Kingston seemed less impressed with the inaugural AEW World Champion's presence.

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For those wondering, Jericho has been away from AEW programming due to Fozzy touring Europe. During the closing legs of this tour, the Demo-God also had a short hospital stay due to a non-COVID 19 issue.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.