>>5619424Kenny and the Bucks' issue was pretty clearly about them being gaijin and NJPW not wanting to pay them the same as the top Japanese stars. WWE was willing to pay Kenny a lot because they REALLY didn't want AEW to happen. NJPW didn't give a shit because they don't care about WWE or AEW (which may have been a mistake, in retrospect).
I don't think you can take Kenny's situation, where he was very clearly at very worst the number 5 guy in the company and arguably was as high as tied for the very top guy in the company and he wanted to be paid like it and he had multiple suitors, including a new start-up company, and just extrapolate it to midcard Japanese guy on the roster. Kenny was in a very particular situation.
Also, you kinda have to be offered a deal with a US company to be able to go there for more money. And Kushida was pretty clearly not about money, it was that he felt he'd hit his peak in NJPW and they wouldn't move him up to heavyweight.
