Chris Jericho no longer has contractual ties to New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
According to a report in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Chris Jericho is not under contract with New Japan anymore. It was noted that the final match under his original contract was the Wrestle Kingdom 14 match he had against Hiroshi Tanahashi in 2020.
F4WOnline.com’s Dave Meltzer noted that at the time, New Japan’s Harold Meij was “negative on it due to the high cost” of Jericho’s contract, but others in the company did not agree with him. Meij stepped down as New Japan President in October, but it was pointed out that the promotion would have to get their finances in order after the pandemic to entertain re-signing him to a deal.
Jericho has been open about wanting to return to the company, recently telling Mike Beauvais of TSN that he has a lot of “unfinished business” with the promotion.
“There’s a lot of unfinished business for me in New Japan. Jay White is one [potential opponent], [Minoru] Suzuki is another one that would draw big money. Kota Ibushi and [Will] Ospreay — those four guys I’d love to work with. I’d love to do a ‘Golden Jets’ team — Kenny and Jericho — versus [Kazuchika] Okada and Ibushi or [Hiroshi] Tanahashi and Okada or Tanahashi and Ibushi.
“I think that’s a Tokyo Dome main event right there. So there’s a lot of stuff I’d still like to do in New Japan and as soon as we can start going over there again, I’m more than agreeable to doing more work there. I really enjoyed the six matches that I had there in 2018 and 2019 and think there’s plenty of room for more.”
UPDATE: Chris Jericho has since commented on the report about his contract status, saying it’s “hardly hot news” and confirmed the deal expired on January 6, 2020.
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