New details are available regarding Sasha Banks' deal with NJPW.
Dave Meltzer addressed Banks' status in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Meltzer noted that while Banks' agreement is with NJPW, it also includes one Stardom date, likely a major show the promotion has planned for the spring.
“The deal is with New Japan but would include one date for Stardom. That would be for a show that is expected in April, but the company had planned for the biggest show in its history, which will tentatively be announced on 12/29 at the Stardom Sumo Hall show," Meltzer wrote.
Bushiroad is hoping that Banks' large social media following will help draw fans and build the public perception of the company.
"Their belief is that with 5.6 million Instagram followers and 2.4 million Twitter followers, far more than any of their talent, that she has gigantic mainstream appeal," Meltzer continued.
Voices of Wrestling reported that Banks' deal is the largest per-event agreement NJPW has ever made, including Chris Jericho's. Jericho's deal, however, was based on various percentages as opposed to a flat rate.
"For the record, the money I reportedly made during my run with @njpw1972 from 2018-2020 online currently is completely wrong. I never had a flat per appearance deal, I was paid according to the event. And I made more per event than I did for MOST of my Wrestlemania matches," Jericho posted to Twitter on Thursday evening.
Sources close to the situation only confirmed Banks' agreeement is a "huge per-event deal" but it is unknown how much she will be making or if it is more than Jericho received.
Banks negotiated with WWE over the summer and reached an agreement that she would become a free agent at the start of 2023. This meant that WWE would not freeze her contract but she would be unable to do anything wrestling related until January. Following the regime change in WWE, the two sides began negotiating a deal for Banks' return but ended up being far apart on money.
"She was said to be seeking a number along the levels of Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair and those internally have said she wasn’t offered numbers close to that. They said that she’s not seen internally as somebody who would be on top for the next five years," Meltzer wrote.
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