Chris Jericho is said to be one of the highest paid wrestlers in AEW. The first ever AEW Champion is one of the promotions biggest stars at the moment and has been a constant presence in the company since his signing in 2019.
Making his name before AEW in WCW and WWE, Jericho was one of the catalysts to Tony Khan getting a TV Deal with TNT in the first place. Without Jericho there would be no AEW Dynamite, so he has earned the alleged hefty salary he has had since he started with AEW.
As the leader of two top-class factions (The Inner Circle and Jericho Appreciation Society), he has helped to build a number of stars over the past three years. Being one of the best storytellers inside the ring and one of the most entertaining wrestlers on the mic, he has laid down his claim to being the greatest wrestler in the history of professional wrestling.
Being a feature of the program since the beginning, he has engaged in thoroughly entertaining feuds with some of AEW’s most popular stars, like Jon Moxley, MJF and Orange Cassidy. He has helped build any wrestler he has faced and done his best to get them over with the crowd as best he can.
But how much money does Chris Jericho make in AEW? We look at his AEW salary and how it compares to other top wrestlers in the company, like Jon Moxley, MJF or CM Punk.
How Much Does Chris Jericho Make?
Chris Jericho makes $3 million a year in AEW, according to reports. He was the top earner earner in AEW when the company was formed, beating out the likes of Kenny Omega and Cody Rhodes as having the highest salary in AEW.
Cody Rhodes revealed in an interview with AEW Unrestricted, how the AEW contracts work and how Chris Jericho was the top earner in the company. He broke down the different tiers of contracts, with their being six tiers a wrestler could be part of.
The six tiers of AEW contracts were;
- Tier 0
- Tier 1
- Tier 2
- Tier 3
- Tier 4
- Jericho Tier
Chris Jericho was the highest paid wrestler by far, and on a tier of his own. The quote by Cody Rhodes about Chris Jericho’s salary is blow;
“‘Agreed to appear’ is tier zero, meaning you will get a bonus, and Tony is super generous. If you ask some of these extras what they’re making down there…my dad would’ve lost it. It’s the COVID era, they have no other work because there are no Indies. Tier zero is a signing bonus and exclusivity to us in terms of, we get a first option on you and we guarantee you X amount of dates. The exclusivity is case by case. The goal is, you don’t want to pay someone who has agreed to appear and keep giving them their weekly versus tier one, which is our base contract agreement. We have tier one, two, three, four, and tier Jericho. Everyone is given a choice of things that are important to them, different pieces of the pie.”
While it may seem unfair that Chris Jericho earned more than other main eventers like Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks, it made total sense. He had been in WWE for nearly 20 years, as a main eventer for the bulk of that time. He made his name during the most popular time in wrestling history and was frequently wrestling huge stars like The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin (he even beat them both on one night in 2002).
His name value alone was sky high. His appearance at Wrestle Kingdom 12 prompted huge pay per view buys in the West and help build up NJPW as a serious competitor in the United States. He also had offers to return to WWE but turned them down in favour of a bumper AEW contract.
He was given the huge $3 million a year salary on the back of his ability to bring eyes to the product that AEW otherwise wouldn’t have gotten. Thousands of fans tuned in to see their old favourite Chris Jericho wrestling again, years after leaving WWE. He was still one of the most popular wrestlers, and his appearance helped introduce new fans to AEW, and new stars like Kenny Omega, Adam Page and Darby Allin.
He was overtaken as the highest paid wrestler in AEW later on though. After making his debut at Double or Nothing 2019, Jon Moxley was said to have signed a larger deal with Jericho. After extending his contract earlier this year, Jon Moxley earns a reported $6 million salary from AEW and is by far their most popular star.
CM Punk is also said to earn a comparable $3 million salary with AEW, matching Jericho. However, CM Punk is currently injured and could soon be fired from AEW due to a backstage brawl with The Elite.
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