Is CM Punk Teasing a Chris Jericho Return?

During the excellent back-and-forth promo between CM Punk and Roman Reigns that ended Monday Night Raw on March 2, Punk angrily told Reigns, “Brother, you just made the list.” This was swiftly followed by the line about Reigns’ father that has become a focal point of the feud recently, but longtime fans likely seized on it because it was verbatim phrasing from Chris Jericho’s gimmick during his last WWE run when he had the “List of Jericho.”

Still, it was one line in a lengthy exchange, and you could certainly chalk it up to coincidence. It became harder to ignore on this week’s Raw when, amid the face-off between Punk and The Usos, Punk talked about “sitting under the Wild Samoans’ learning tree.” It was a reference to the former WWF tag team, Afa and Sika, the latter being Reigns’ father.

For those that haven’t followed Jericho’s career path since his final WWE appearance at the Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018, during his time with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), Jericho began to refer to himself as “The Learning Tree,” and would eventually head a stable of the same name that featured former WWE wrestler Big Cass (now known as Big Bill).

Jericho has been heavily rumored to be eyeing up a WWE return over the past several months, including speculation that he’d be back on the first Raw of 2026 (especially after Adam Pearce posted on X asking who can “break down the walls,” a not-so-veiled reference to Jericho’s WWE theme music and finisher, “The Walls of Jericho”), then again at the Royal Rumble, and most recently as part of the mystery box storyline at WWE Elimination Chamber 2026.

It’s all conjecture at this point as Jericho remains listed on AEW’s roster page amid reports that he’s had time added to his contract due to injuries. Still, it’s interesting to hear Punk drop those lines in back-to-back weeks—remember that Punk and Jericho have history, once feuding over the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XXVIII. Does it mean anything? We’ll have to wait to find out.