What Could Have Been: What If Chris Jericho Won The ROH World Title At AEW Dynasty 2025?

Chris Jericho and Bandido went to war in a mask-versus-title match for the ROH World Championship at AEW Dynasty 2025 in a bout with a bizarre finish. While referee Aubrey Edwards was distracted by a brawl between The Learning Tree's Brian Keith and Bandido's brother, Gravity, on the outside, Jericho nailed Bandido with his bat to end the match. Or so fans thought.

Bandido's family was ringside and motioned to Edwards and told the official that Jericho had cheated to retain. The match was quickly restarted, much to Jericho's chagrin, and Bandido hit a big knee to the champion, followed by the 21-Plex to score the official victory and become new ROH World Champion. Bandido got to celebrate with his family and the fans, as Jericho slinked off to the back to contemplate his next move.

That move would lead to his disappearance from AEW television for almost an entire year. On the following Wednesday's edition of "AEW Dynamite," Jericho told The Learning Tree, consisting of Keith and Big Bill, that he had to go away, after throwing a temper tantrum and destroying the set of his "TV Time" segment. He told the younger stars that he "thought it was best" if he "went away for awhile." That was the last AEW fans saw of Jericho until April Fool's Day 2026 when he opened "Dynamite" with just a few words, to tell fans he was "home" after months of speculation as to whether or not he was making the jump back to WWE.

But, what if Jericho had actually retained the title over Bandido at Dynasty last year? He was certainly close to doing just that. How much of Jericho's direction actually would have changed had he remained champion, especially as fans were already growing quite tired of the future "Cornerstone?"

As fans were just so tired of Jericho and his constantly evolving character, one that was always creating stables of younger stars to keep around (stars who never actually seemed to be elevated by the status of the former AEW World Champion) it's not likely that he would have kept the ROH World Championship for much longer. Jericho wasn't getting anywhere close to a positive reaction in AEW at that point, though he continued to troll fans with things like the previously mentioned "TV Time" segment, meant to take a shot at those who thought he was taking up too much time on AEW programming. Instead of backing away, Jericho kept doubling down.

Because of Jericho's less-than-stellar position with a majority of fans, he was going to have to lose the ROH Championship sooner rather than later, especially as it was revealed in later months AEW President Tony Khan kept turning down ROH TV deals. It was previously thought by many that maybe ROH's top title was put on Jericho to help boost the brand to secure those media rights, which of course, ended up not being the case.

Jericho likely would have dropped the ROH title to Bandido at Double or Nothing the following month, in what is often promoted one of AEW's "big four" shows. It seems highly unlikely that AEW would want to keep the title on Jericho the entire way through Supercard of Honor, which took place in July last year. Bandido almost certainly would have won the title in Arizona, in what would likely be another stipulation match, like a street fight.

With Jericho no longer holding gold, the only logical next step for him would be to feud with Keith and Bill, which many fans were suspecting would happen before he announced he was stepping away.

Jericho's Double or Nothing title loss would need to be due to interference from Bill and Keith gone awry, in storyline, possibly the stars missing their chance to break up a pin. On the "Dynamite" following the event, Jericho would lose his mind, with Bill laying him out as Keith looked on stunned for a moment, before joining in on the beat down.

Keith would obviously side with Bill after everything Jericho had put them through, or hadn't put them through, as they would realize they were in no better position than they were when they joined him. Booking the feud would be interesting, as a triple threat match between the now-former stable wouldn't make too much sense. Keith and Bill would have to agree to face Jericho one after the other, with Keith going first.

Jericho and Keith could have their first singles match on "Dynamite," followed by a PPV match at All In Texas in July, where Jericho would put Keith over in his home state. The big feud-ending match would take place against Big Bill at All Out: Toronto in September, where Bill would emerge triumphant against his former mentor. Between May and September, Jericho could take a few weeks off TV here and there, remerging to attack his former stable and re-ignite the feud.

After All Out, Jericho would still take the time off he desperately needed to, in the eyes of the fans, but it would perhaps put him in a better position upon his comeback, since he actually put over Keith and Bill. He would be off TV through the new year, in that case, and could either return at Revolution, with six months off TV at the time of his return, or even a full eight if he was brought back at Double or Nothing.