Jonathan Coachman Seemingly Admits Chris Jericho WWE Return Scoop Was Fake

Just days after igniting a firestorm with claims that Chris Jericho was set to return to WWE at the 2026 Royal Rumble, Jonathan Coachman is now walking it all back — and he’s doing it on purpose. According to him, it wasn’t to troll Jericho or WWE — it was to expose how easily wrestling news sites will run with unverified stories just for clicks.

In a video posted to Twitter, Coachman explained exactly why he created the hoax, and why fans and media alike should be more skeptical of online reporting. Before diving into the explanation. Coachman said the fake Jericho scoop wasn’t a random post — it was a deliberate test.

“All right, guys. A couple things as we get set for our real radio show, which is on channel one hundred fifty six, Off the Ropes this afternoon, two to four Eastern time, real quick. I do want to address something because I've gotten such a good laugh out of this, and I know there's people out there that make their living reporting things and make their living trying to get ahead of the story. And it's just fun for us. It's fun for my team. And we literally the other day — did I talk to a few people, Y2J? Of course I did. But if you looked at any of our tweets previous to that one, I said to my buddies, I said, watch this. Because I said, I told everybody, they'll run with anything. They'll run with anything that is in their mind credible because wrestling sites, wrestling Twitter handles — there are no repercussions if you're incorrect. All they care about is clicks, views, and getting the check.”

Coachman then compared the wrestling news world to his time working in traditional sports journalism.

“If you're in sports, like when I worked with Adam Schefter, he would double check two, three, four times before he runs with a story. That was my entire point. And for most of you that have privately texted me or tweeted at me going, ‘Coach, how are they biting on this?’ I’m like, I don’t know, but it happens all the time.”

Coachman took things further, questioning the entire obsession with breaking wrestling stories before they air — especially among so-called “journalists.”

“I would never want to have a business where I had to rely on breaking stories in wrestling or sports. I like talking about them. The other part — when you call yourself a journalist, normally most journalists are guests on shows. They don’t have their own shows. Because journalism is not your opinion, it’s fact. And that’s what we need to remember — what the word is. When you’re a reporter, it’s supposed to be fact, not your opinion.”

He then addressed how fans crave spoilers — and why that takes away from the actual fun of watching wrestling.

“I’ve never understood — since my time in WWE, my time at ESPN — why people are so enamored with finding out something before it actually happens. Why would you want to know if Chris Jericho is going to show up tonight?”

Coachman also referenced recent speculation around The Rock and pointed out how real confirmation should come straight from the source.

“The whole argument we got into on social media was The Rock has a big bag and was offered this for eighteen months from now — when there’s no way anybody would know that. The Rock has never made a history out of telling anybody. Now, when do I believe The Rock? When he goes on his own Instagram page and puts it up like he did for tonight — that’s when I believe him. That was the entire point we were trying to make.”

To close out the video, Coachman reminded viewers that the viral Jericho post proved exactly what he intended: the wrestling news cycle is broken — and fans should stop treating speculation as fact.

“You all got sucked in. And you got to stop believing all of these sites until they give you fact, because they throw stuff to the wall. And that was our entire point. And we proved it. Now, I still could be right. But if I’m wrong, does it really matter? Because it’s wrestling. Just enjoy the show. We’ll see you guys at two o'clock Eastern.”

Coachman pushed a story that ended up being completely false — and that’s a serious problem. Yes, Ringside News picked up the report, and in our defense, this didn’t come from some random source. He worked for WWE, he knows people currently in the company. But stunts like this damage trust. There’s already too much misinformation spreading online, and intentionally adding to it—just to prove a point—helps no one.

Do you think Coachman crossed the line with his fake Jericho report? Should former WWE names be held to a higher standard? Share your thoughts in the comments below.