Tetsuya Naito told Tokyo Sports that he accepted a 24% salary cut to re-sign with NJPW, but the number has been inflated for a storyline purpose.
A report from Voices Of Wrestling stated that while the cuts are true and every new contract had it, the real number is at around 10-15% and Kazuchika Okada’s deal was not involved simply because his contract has yet to expire. When the date comes, Okada’s deal will receive the same cut, but the whole thing is for now a storyline in order to create sympathy for Naito against Okada, billing the Rainmaker as “the office’s golden boy”.
Tokyo Sports notoriously collaborates with the companies in maintaining kayfabe, and while New Japan chairman Noaki Sugabayashi confirmed to the source that the cuts are temporary, a main event wrestler in the company said that Gedo and Naito asked permission to use it for the story, as well as confirming that wrestlers are not happy but NJPW’s salaries remain the best in the country with a wide margin above the competition.
