Wrestler Chris Jericho made a surprising appearance to "Monday Night Raw" in Hartford, Connecticut, marking his return to WWE Programming after a lengthy a leave of absence.

As noted by The Bleacher Report, Jericho has been quite busy in his absence from wrestling, including several side projects, such as his band, Fozzy. As noted by Cageside Seats , these outside ventures were acknowledged by the ring announcer, who hinted Jericho’s return by saying that “this ring warrior is a cross-platform entertainer who has found numerous successes outside of the squared circle."

In his “Talk is Jericho” podcast, Jericho insisted that his band Fozzy will continue to be the focus in his life, but he will continue to return to WWE when he has time and interest and, as reported by WrestlingInc., Jericho said that he is always in touch with WWE, thinking of ways for him to return.

Jericho admitted the whole deal for his return to Hartford was made in about five minutes with WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H on the Friday before the event.

In the days before the event took place, there were rumors and assumptions that fellow retired wrestler "The Miz" would be the one to show up at Hartford's XL Center, but there was a report came out that it would actually be Jericho.

On Monday night, both Miz AND Jericho made their return that night, to the surprise and awe of everyone at the XL Center. The crowd exploded with cheers and applause when Jericho interrupted The Miz's walk to the ring. However, the mood quickly turned when recent ring villains "the Wyatt family" - a cult of backwater hillbillies lead by their delusional, Hawaiian shirt wearing leader, Bray Wyatt - attacked Jericho, beating him senseless to end the night's festivities. A bit of an odd creative choice for the return of a fan favorite, but considering how particular Jericho is about the circumstances of his returns, he must have accepted this turn of events.

Jericho had not participated in a WWE even since July 19, 2013 episode of "SmackDown", and has repeatedly insisted that he did not want to return to the ring unless there was something interesting for him to do.

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Instagram Image via Instagram from >Chris Jericho
Photo Credit: Roger Wong/INFphoto.com