Details On Sasha Banks NJPW Deal & How Much She Wanted From WWE

Banks wanted the same money as other WWE Superstars.

It is no secret that in the next few weeks Mercedes Varnado, the former Sasha Banks, will be done with WWE and heading to New Japan Pro Wrestling. It has been reported that she is slated to appear in some capacity at WrestleKingdom 17 on January 4th along with other dates. Now we have some more info on that new deal and her negotiations with WWE.

According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer does report that the deal with New Japan is not only with New Japan Pro Wrestling but would include one Stardom date as well. That date could be in April as Stardom is expected to announce their biggest show of the year at their upcoming December 29th show from Sumo Hall.

Bushiroad, the parent company for both New Japan Pro Wrestling and Stardom reportedly feels that Varnado’s big social media following will also help both companies from a public perception. Varnado has 5.6 million Instagram followers and 2.4 million Twitter followers.

When it comes to her deal with the company and how much she was making, it was previously reported that she was on the biggest per appearance deal New Japan has ever offered, even larger than the $100,000 they were paying Chris Jericho. Yet Jericho himself took to Twitter to dispute that number.

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.

— Chris Jericho (@IAmJericho) December 16, 2022

Speaking of money, Meltzer also mention that when negotiating with WWE the two sides were way off on money. Varnado wanted to be paid on the level of both Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. The company felt that was not what she was worth paying as one source noted internally they did not think she would be someone on top for the next five years. Regarding Lynch and Flair and how much they are making, as of 2021, it was reported both were making at least $1 million a year.

If we do hear anything else regarding the former Sasha Banks and what is next for her, we will have it here and on the PWUnlimited YouTube Channel.