Chris Jericho believes WWE is keeping tabs on what NJPW is doing.
Speaking on a recent episode of Talk Is Jericho, Jericho was joined by Fumi Saito to preview Wrestle Kingdom 13. During Jericho's conversation with Saito, he touched on WWE keeping an eye on the progression NJPW made in 2018.
"WWE is watching," stated Jericho. "Anytime you have a company that can come into WWE's backyard and sell out Madison Square Garden -- you can spin it anyway you want to; it's WrestleMania weekend -- it doesn't matter. They did something that WWE has not done in years. They tried to block this show and it didn't work out. When you're talking about a company that has nationwide TV on AXS, it's not NBC or USA, but it's still funded by a billionaire, Mark Cuban. There is money there. WWE never takes anything like that lightly."
Jericho also credited NJPW World for boosting the profile of the company. Jericho said that NJPW World has helped introduce more Americans to the NJPW product. Jericho's involvement at Wrestle Kingdom 12 reportedly boosted NJPW World subscriptions by 25,000.
NJPW and ROH will hold the G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden on Apr. 6, the night before WrestleMania 35.
Jericho will be back on NJPW World on Jan. 4 for Wrestle Kingdom 13 when he defends his IWGP Intercontinental Title against Tetsuya Naito.