Recently on The Jim Ross Report, WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross caught up with current IWGP Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho. Among many other things, Jericho talked about his current NJPW contract. Also, Jericho weighed in on WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar's WWE deal and shared his thoughts on Lesnar possibly retaining his title at WWE SummerSlam.

During the conversation, Jericho likened himself to Lesnar, as he also holds a championship and has not appeared for his promotion in months. Jericho indicated that his current NJPW deal is for 2018, which includes at least two or three more matches for 'The King Of Sports'.

"I'm kind of like the Brock Lesnar of New Japan," Jericho boasted. "I won the title and then disappear for three months or whatever it is. But I mean, I had a lot of Fozzy tours booked. Fozzy is very successful right now. We have two top 10 hits in The [United] States and so they knew that and they wanted to kind of book this match for me to sort of win the title, which I think was a good idea because it shows that Jericho is not just hear for a one-and-done. And, of course, there's going to be another match if not two or three more matches and we have all of that figured out and that was all figured out from the moment that I signed this deal with them. So [Ross] know[s] how I like to work, Jim. I like the element of surprise and I don't really like to let anyone know what I'm doing, so I signed a deal with New Japan for 2018, so there [are] matches included in that. We kind of have that all figured out and worked out, so yeah, I didn't just win the title and disappear. I will be back and I will be back a few more times, for sure."

While many WWE Superstars have griped about the sweetheart of a deal Lesnar has with WWE, Jericho claimed to "admire" 'The Beast' for his contract and stated that he hopes to pen a similar deal for himself. In Jericho's learned opinion, pro wrestlers should be happy whenever one of their own earns a good living because it means others could also get good deals.

"I think a lot of people have animosity towards [Lesnar] because of that [favorable deal], but I don't." Jericho admitted, "I admire the guy. I would like that deal and I'm not so sure that I won't get a deal like that at some point. At least in New Japan I did, so I remember years ago someone said, 'you can't blame,' I think they were talking about [Hulk] Hogan when Hogan had that huge deal with WCW and he got a percentage of the pay-per-views and he was making this money, they're like, 'you can't blame Hogan for getting the deal.' You can't blame freakin' LeBron James for going to [NBA's Los Angeles Lakers] for $40 million for two years. Blame the company! Blame the owners! Blame the team! Blame the company! Blame Vince [McMahon]! Don't blame the guy [who received the favorable deal]. Yeah, I'm always happy for the [performers], whoever they are, whether you like them or you don't like them when they make good money because I still think for years, if you're liking at the NFL, NBA, NHL, WWE salary caps, who's making the least amount of money percentage-wise? It's always the WWE [performers], so anybody to can make really, really good money in the [pro] wrestling business, I never hold any animosity towards them because it just means if they can make more money, I can make more money too at some point."

Although the wrestleverse has expected Lesnar to drop the Universal title to Roman Reigns for several months now, WWE has not ordained 'The Big Dog' with the big red strap. Jericho suggested that Lesnar may retain the title at SummerSlam, as many people are expecting the championship to change hands due to Lesnar's upcoming fight against current UFC Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier.

"Well, he [has] been doing it with, I was going to say, 'poor' Roman [Reigns], but he [has] been doing it with Roman for the last two or three matches that they've had now, I believe." Jericho continued, "they thought [Reigns] was going to win [The Universal Championship] at WrestleMania [34], he didn't. They thought he was going to win it at The Greatest Royal Rumble, he didn't. I think there might have been another time or something, but who knows? What I know, once again, is that this is all Vince [McMahon]'s plan, and he's orchestrating it, and he knows exactly what's going on, exactly what he wants to do. And I would never bet against Vince McMahon because once in a while it doesn't work, but 99 other times, it does and I've seen it myself."



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Source: The Jim Ross Report