AEW’s Tony Khan has once again addressed Chris Jericho’s absence from AEW and has hinted at whether the former AEW World Champion would return to the promotion.

Jericho’s contract with AEW is reportedly set to expire at the end of the year, with reports linking him with a return to WWE. During his recent appearance on “Busted Open,” Khan once again reiterated his love and admiration for Jericho and how he would be grateful for him to return to the promotion.

“I love Chris Jericho. He’s a huge part of AEW. He’s been here since the beginning and, you know, I think we’ll see what happens here in the coming months, but Chris is always a welcome big part of AEW. We’d always want to have him here. So I absolutely am so grateful to Chris Jericho for everything he’s done,” he said. “Well, Chris Jericho is a huge part of that history. The very first AEW world champion and somebody who’s now a nine-time world champion and has won several of those championships here with us. So I am very, very grateful to Chris, and Chris is always a very welcome huge part of AEW.”

Host Dave LaGreca drew parallels between Jericho’s contributions to AEW at the start of the promotion and pro wrestling legend Terry Funk’s impact on ECW. Khan agreed with the comparison and noted that Jericho’s name value helped put AEW on the map.

“Yeah, I think that’s a great point. I mean, he’s definitely one of those franchise stars that has given us so much and continues to be, as people talk about AEW and the big stars. People still would always mention Chris in the very first list of great AEW names,” said the AEW CEO.

Aside from Jericho, a few other AEW stars have also been missing from television, which Khan recently discussed, including Britt Baker, Adam Copeland, and Andrade.