Chris Jericho was paid a huge sum of money to wrestle in NJPW in 2018, owing to the huge star he was in the WWE.
Jericho left the WWE that year, walking out on the company he had spent nearly two decades wrestling for.
While he originally planned not to wrestle for anyone other than Vince McMahon, the allure of a big-money match with Kenny Omega at the Tokyo Dome seemed too good to pass up.
The match was reported to have earned NJPW an astounding $300,000 per month going forward – but how much money was Chris Jericho paid for his NJPW matches?
How Much Did Chris Jericho Make In NJPW?
Chris Jericho was one of the biggest stars in New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2018, and as such earned huge sums of money in the promotion.
This was revealed by Dave Meltzer, writing about Jericho’s earnings in the Wrestling Observer.
When discussing the kind of money that Mercedes Mone (Sasha Banks in the WWE) could be making in NJPW, Dave Meltzer confirmed how much money Chris Jericho made in NJPW.
Chris Jericho made $100,000 per match in New Japan Pro Wrestling, making him one of the highest-paid wrestlers in the world.
Jericho wrestled six matches in NJPW between 2018 and 2020, earning him $600,000 in total for his matches – one of the highest fees New Japan has ever paid.
Writing in the Wrestling Observer, Dave Meltzer reported that Chris Jericho made $100,000 per match in NJPW, which was actually underpaying him (based on how much money he brought in for the company).
“Voices of Wrestling said it’s a per appearance deal at the highest price that Bushiroad [NJPW’s parent company] has ever paid anyone and they said it was more than Chris Jericho.
Which, to me, sounds, I don’t know. Chris Jericho ended up being worth $100,000 which is what – Chris Jericho made $100,000 a shot when he was working for New Japan. $100,000 a shot, with Chris Jericho he was actually underpaid because of how much revenue he drove between New Japan World and ticket sales at the different shows and things like that. But I don’t see her [Mercedes Mone] driving that revenue but I guess we’ll see.”
Jericho began earning $100,000 per match in NJPW with his match against Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 12.
He went on to wrestle six matches in total for NJPW, against five different opponents. These matches include:
- Kenny Omega (Wrestle Kingdom 12)
- Tetsuya Naito (NJPW Dominion 6.9 In Osaka-Jo Hall)
- EVIL (NJPW Power Struggle 2018 ~ Super Junior Tag League 2018)
- Tetsuya Naito – (Wrestle Kingdom 13)
- Kazuchika Okada (NJPW Dominion 6.9 In Osaka-Jo Hall)
- Hiroshi Tanahashi (Wrestle Kingdom 14)
Given how high-profile most of Chris Jericho’s opponents were in Japan, it is not shocking that he was paid so much in the few bouts he did have.
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