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What's the pay in Japan?

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> Hey Scott,
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> Considering there are only so many spot for wrestlers in the WWE and TNA , why do seemingly so few US wrestlers go overseas to wrestle in Japan (or even Mexico)? Is it a pay issue? Are there the same issues with job availability?

Yeah, it's a pay issue, because New Japan isn't exactly WWE and there's only so much to go around for gaijin there. Thus why Albert would rather do whatever he's doing now instead of getting respect and a push in Japan. Sometimes you gotta pay the bills.

Comments

  1. I figure the pay is part of it, but Tanahashi has got to be making more the Albert/Zack Ryder/Kofi Kingston/Miz

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  2. Plus you have to live in Japan.

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  3. Pay aside - Japan is a very different culture. Sometimes you want to be closer to family, eating food you like, watching TV you understand, etc. Not to mention you don't have to worry about visa issues.

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  4. The days of Stan Hansen and Bruiser Brody making huge salaries working mainly in Japan is over.

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  5. A lot of the guys probably don't have good working relationships with Japan because WWE isn't Japan-friendly as far as talent exchange. If you came up all the way through the WWE system you probably don't know anyone in Japan and would probably have to cold call them to try to get booked.

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  6. You get paid in yen.

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  7. WINNER OF A WRESTLEMANIA MAIN EVENT The Miz?


    j/k but I still think he's honestly probably on a much higher pay scale than Ryder

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  8. Karl Anderson has said in interviews that he makes enough to own his house and take care of his family while only working a couple weeks at a time. I think they do quite alright over there.

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  9. Guys of their calibre and talent aren't as easy to come by anymore. The territories dying hurt on so many levels.

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  10. How were guys like the Steiners able to swing both? In both WWF and WCW, they were allowed to keep a schedule in Japan, even when it seemed counterproductive to their WWF/WCW schedules.

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  11. I doubt MVP is starving. Depending on the difference in pay, Japan might still be a better option as you get to come home and rest a lot more than in WWE. On the minus side, you're out there taking backdrop drivers for half an hour.

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  12. 'Fuck you, we're doing Japan'.
    'Okay'.

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  13. lmao. Yeah, fair enough. But how come not many others did that?

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  14. They do quite alright over there, especially if you are in NJPW.

    Hell, Joe Doering has been in AJPW for what seems like forever, so he must not be doing so bad.

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  15. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonAugust 25, 2013 at 4:21 PM

    This is an area that TNA should take advantage of. They could send talent to Mexico and Japan for a few weeks so people don't get tired of them.

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  16. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonAugust 25, 2013 at 4:22 PM

    I think he saved a lot of his WWE money so he could take the risk of a tour over there.

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  17. Not really, Japanese work visas are only good for 3-4 month periods at a time anyway so you have to come back and apply for another one every couple months. But I do understand family guys not wanting to spend months away from home, as well as that 20 hour flight to and from being why more wrestlers don't do it,.

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  18. oh, no doubt Miz is making more then Ryder--but Tanahashi should be rolling in mountains of gold for what he's done for NJPW

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  19. Also the cost of living in Japan is quite high. And you're at the mercy of exchange rates.

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  20. I don't think they worked Japan while working the full-time schedule for Vince. I think Vince gave up on them and let them work Japan instead of making them finish out his contract.


    With WCW... well what the fuck they were basically a TV company anyway. I'm sure other guys were just fine making the WCW money for a few nights work a year. And also the Stieners at that point were once-in-a-lifetime talent, same with Vader who worked out deals to work UWFI while the WCW Champion. The Japanese weren't gonna pay big bucks for Dustin Rhodes to work a tour.

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  21. Not necessarily arguing, but if you're living and working in Japan aren't you making Japanese money and operating in the Japanese economy?

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  22. Actually they work a scheudle where the tour for a couple of weeks, then have a couple of weeks off. And yes, I read that from Meltzer.

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  23. Don't forget next year he gets to end the Undertaker's streak.

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  24. Not if you're going for two or three tours a year.

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  25. So you live half the year in Japan? Is that better?

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  26. OK, I'm a bit confused (happens a lot) -- I was going off of your previous posts -- What do you mean exactly?

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  27. I mean it's not that simple. Does your family live in the US and you just leave for a month at a time? Because then you have exchange rates and you have to support two residencies. Do you take your family over there and live there full time? Then you have to have your family immersed in another culture. And a higher cost of living. It's not just 'if Japan pays the same, why not work there?' It's more complicated.

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  28. Is he selling out Tokyo Dome?

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  29. And you can't really demand that you get paid in US dollars.

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  30. If you like the culture, which many do, then it's not a problem.

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  31. Drag your family halfway across the world? Away from their friends and family? Sure, totally simple.

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  32. It's an easier choice to make when you're single, no question. Many are.

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  33. You'd get to spend WEEKS at home and weeks on the road, instead of (in WWE) five days on the road and maybe two days off the road. EVERY WEEK.

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  34. Don't try and reason with Dougie, he's just here to be disagreeable.

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  35. Different strokes for different folks.

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  36. Hivemind is strong with this one.

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  37. So it's be like working a regular five day a week job where you could spend a couple of days a week with your kids or spending a month away, then coming back for a couple of weeks plus losing a couple of days to flights. Seriously, try to think for once in your life.

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  38. In the future, if you're going to attempt to insult someone, you should try and use the correct form of your/you're. Otherwise you'll look awfully stupid.

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  39. Not really. You're still sad and ignorant. Most likely a bedwetter.

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  40. The only time I wet the bed is when I'm giving your mother the sweet sweet loving. Although she's the one wetting the bed.

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  41. The yakuza killed my mother in 1982.

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  42. Scream09_HartKillerAugust 25, 2013 at 7:57 PM

    WCW had a working relationship with Japan. I can't recall who, I'm thinking Benoit, but someone chose WCW over WWF because they'd be able to keep making their Japan tours. In Jericho's book he mentioned that as being a pro for joining WCW, but they eventually stopped letting him. I think guys like the Steiners who were stars in Japan and making good money would make it known before joining a company that they wanted to keep working Japan or they wouldn't come in. I thought the Steiners leaving the WWF had something to do with Japan?

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  43. No. That was Sparky Lyle.

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  44. See how much nicer and more civil this conversation looks now that I cut out all the nonsense? Almost like two human beings speaking to each other. So let's cut the shit, k?

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  45. So his calling me an asshole and talking about fucking my mom is perfectly fine?

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  46. Charismatic e-Negro Jef VinsonAugust 25, 2013 at 9:45 PM

    "Guys of their calibre and talent aren't as easy to come by anymore."


    Really large legally blind white guys guys that have no problem hurting people?

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  47. Missed those ones, fair enough though. I'm nothing if not impartial. I'm also high.

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  48. Wasn't he in WWE development for a little while? I seem to recall him being assigned a name but I don't recall ever hearing about his release.

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  49. THIS DOUGIE GUY SURE IS A DICK!

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  50. WCW had a working relationship with New Japan. Yeah, in his DVD Benoit said he chose WCW because of the relationship they had with NJPW. And at the time he probably would have had trouble getting a spot in WWF anyway due to his size.

    It worked both ways, but other than Great Muta none of the Japanese guys who came over to WCW had much of an impact. Usually guys would just come over for one or two shows.

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  51. Because not many others necessarily had a spot lined up in NJPW or AJPW.

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  52. He was for a year, I think. Then he was released and went right back to AJPW.

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