WWE Rumors on Stephanie Vaquer & Big Cass Returns, Chris Jericho Explains Signing New AEW Contract

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

WWE Reportedly Delayed Vaquer's Return

Stephanie Vaquer made her return to WWE programming during Monday night's episode of Raw, but she reportedly could have returned even sooner had WWE wanted her to.

According to PWInsider.con (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Vaquer was medically cleared to wrestle well before Monday, but the WWE creative team wanted to wait for the perfect moment so as not to "waste" her return.

WWE reportedly also went to great lengths to keep Vaquer's return a surprise, as it wasn't finalized until this past weekend, which is when her travel was booked as well.

Becky Lynch also returned on Raw from a shorter hiatus to confront women's world champion Liv Morgan, but she wasn't the only one to step up as a potential contender for Morgan's title.

Vaquer emerged near the end of the segment by attacking Morgan and her Judgment Day stablemates in Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez.

That led to a tense stare-down between Vaquer and Lynch with both of them making it clear that their sights were set on the Women's World Championship.

Vaquer had not been seen on WWE programming since shortly after WrestleMania 42 in April. She was written off television via an attack angle involving The Judgment Day so she could address a real-life shoulder injury.

Now that she's back, Vaquer represents a huge addition to the women's division and to Raw as a whole.

Big Cass' Reported Reaction to WWE Return

For the first time since 2018, Big Cass stood inside a WWE ring during Monday night's episode of Raw.

Cass made his WWE return by taking out Je'Von Evans, and he cut an intense promo later in the show about working his way back to the company after eight years away.

According to PWInsider.com (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), Cass was in "great spirits" backstage on Monday night, and he was "genuinely excited" to be back in the fold with WWE.

Following his release from WWE, Cass had his fair share of ups and downs, but he rebuilt his value in a significant way over the past few years.

It started with a successful run in TNA from 2021 to 2022 as W. Morrissey, and he carried it over to AEW from 2022 to 2026 as Big Bill, which included one reign as an AEW world tag team champion.

During his first stint in WWE, Cass was part of a hugely popular tag team with Enzo Amore.

As of right now, it appears as though Cass is going to be a solo act this time around, and he wasted little time in making a statement and establishing himself as a force on the Raw roster.

Jericho Talks Re-Signing with AEW Over Returning to WWE

Chris Jericho provided some insight this week into why he re-signed with AEW rather than going back to WWE.

During an appearance Tuesday on SHAK Wrestling (h/t Mukherjee), Jericho indicated that being part of AEW from its inception played a significant role in his decision:

"You know, once again, I mean, you weigh your options, but I helped start AEW," Jericho said. "I have a stake in the game. And that's … there's something special about that. I didn't help start WWE. I didn't help start New Japan Pro-Wrestling or CMLL or ECW or WCW or any of those places that I worked in the past. I helped start AEW."

Jericho reflected on the fact that he rolled the dice by committing to AEW in 2019 since it wasn't yet known whether the promotion would be a long-term success or one of many that came and went.

The legitimacy of a multi-time world champion like Jericho undoubtedly played a role in AEW landing a television deal and coming across as a true competitor to WWE in the eyes of fans.

"So, it was a big risk for me to go there." Jericho said. If you remember, there was no guarantees. There were people that said we were going to be out of business in three or four months or six months. And here we are six years later and it's gone the opposite direction. We've become a viable top-level wrestling company with millions of fans."

"So, that to me was something that meant something. And it's something I take great pride in because, once again, it was a real risk to go there, but I knew if the company took off and became successful, it would be another kind of feather in the Chris Jericho legacy cap. So, that's kind of what I always was thinking, was I'm really happy to be in the company that I had some skin in the game and helped kind of get rolling."

While Jericho was among AEW's top stars when it started, and the brand's inaugural champion, he settled into more of a midcard role in more recent years.

From April 2025 until April 2026, he was absent from AEW programming, and during that time, rumors and speculation ran rampant about him potentially leaving the company and going back to WWE.

After all, Jericho's greatest successes came in WWE from 1999 to 2018, as he was a six-time world champion and nine-time intercontinental champion, in addition to countless other accolades.

The 55-year-old Jericho potentially could have enjoyed a nice nostalgia run back in WWE to close out his career, but continuing with the company he helped build from the ground up turned out to be a more appealing opportunity for him.