Contracts

Gillie

Just wondering what kind of money the top earners are on in WWE.
The likes of Austin, Jerico, Benoit etc.
???
:dunno:

Hanza

They are very secretive about that stuff now. Especially after the ex-WCW stars went public about there dramatically high wages.

Just before the Mr.America angle, Hogan was on 400,000 a year, about 8.5 grand a week after TV and merchendising. Add apperences and everything else on top of that and mabey upwards of 10g a week.

Paul London on the other hand is making peanuts. There is an old saying: THERE IS NO MONEY IN INDEPENDENT WRESTLING, but Londan is making a bit more now then he did on the indie levels. The rookies at the moment are very unhappy with there pay, but thats just the tip of the ice berg for those near jobber like majorly talented performers.

Hanza

whosurpaddy

well wrestling wages can work in 2 ways.

wcw they gave people a guaranteed wage. (similar to a normal job) i.e. no matter how many matches u work, how much merchandise u sell, ur gonna earn this much(there wasnt really much exception to this as if u started to sell loads more tshirts and headline ppvs u would probly get a new contract) they did this as it was they only way they could think of to lure wwf stars away. this lead to people feigning injuries and generally not trying as hard as they were gonna earn them same anyway, so a lot of them thought y try to go out an put on a good show and get over.

wwe have always worked off the principle of a guaranteed downside (this is the minimum ur going to earn) so if u dont get over at all or get injured, u still get some wages, but dramatically less than u would expect to get. but u also get money for being on ppvs (u get more for headlining, and also the more money the pvv makes the more each performer gets, so u get more for wrestlemania than for rebellion) and also get a % of the merchandise that is sold bearing your name.

i read a while back that most mid-carders used to be on about $100k a year, but with the wage reductions last year they took a big hit. i remember reading also that kurt angle earned that alone for wrestlemania last year.

bret hart got $9mill for the 3 years he was in wcw, and in the nwo dvd hogan intimated that he earned between $20-30mill while in wcw(he said something about when he heard bret was offer $9mill he realised he should have been getting $60mill)also in the same dvd big show (then the giant)said when he first came into wcw he earned 100k and he was the world champion but bischoff deemed him "not over enough to get a raise"

goldberg has earned $1.5mill so far for his current stint in wwe(i read that he earned a lot more from wcw but cant put my hands on a figure. he also was the only wrestler to completely sit out his wcw contract after they were sold so ted turner was signing his paychecks almost 2 years after he wrestled his last wcw match), but that was his guaranteed downside. he has literally been paid nothing else since he arrived (i dont think wwe are actually making that much off him) and that has been a source of consternation with him as its kind of unheard of not to make any ppv/merchandising money aswell.

i would guess the really top guys HHH, angle, Lesnar, possibly austin (he sells so much merchandise) are on about this figure $1.5mill then u have the guys who are just below: benoit, guerrero, etc who id imagine are on between $300-500k. then the midcarders who are on about $70k. so all in all they are living the good life, but it is a short career (if ur not hulk hogan)

Glowingmind

Aye the above is about right, i think the tough enough winners got 52k contracts, but the average would be up around the 100k mark, while that might seem like quite a lot, the cost of living on the road like most of the wrestlers do is enormous, i read recently that someone who traveled pretty modestly could spend upwards of 25k on the road, paying for cars, hotels, food, gyms etc.

Out of the current crop, big show is on something like a million a year, with a 10 year contract(he's only about half way through it). That's basically why he got so much TV time even when he was in really **** shape and wrestling poorly(i think he's been very good in the past 6 months when you compare him to the other big guys) because vince mcmahon wants his money's worth out of him.
Mark Henry is on a pretty big contract too(not as big as show) which is why he's on tv so much aswell.

Brian Houlihan

Apparently the pay for the jobbers/lowercard guys in WWE is crap.

I heard if you work enough shows on the indy scene in a week you can earn more money than you would in the WWE.

Hanza

Apparently the pay for the jobbers/lowercard guys in WWE is crap.
I heard if you work enough shows on the indy scene in a week you can earn more money than you would in the WWE.

This is true. AJ Styles turned down WWEs offer, and he could still live comfortable. Same with most well known indie carders. Jody Fleish b4 his career ending injury last year was making very good money.

Hanza

NeroTheExtreme

AJ Styles is too clever though... He seen it happen too many times, people jumping to the big league only to find there's nothing there for them. Vince wouldn't have a breeze what to do with him, and he'd end up being a midcarder on Smackdown within months.

Nero

Hanza

Hes a recognised worlds champion now. He will eventually jump to WWE, hes said it him self. His main reason was that he was in college and his girl friend was pregnant.

When he eventually makes the jump, IMO, he will be used correctly. Hes getting more popularity, exposure and heat everyday. Apart from being one of the most talented in ring compedators that gods green earth has to offer us at the moment.

Eventually he will do excellent things. Hopefully he wont go down the Jody Fleish road and get a serious injury before his time is up.

Hanza