{"id":123800,"date":"2024-04-10T08:00:25","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T12:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=123800"},"modified":"2024-04-09T21:10:55","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T01:10:55","slug":"aew-overpay-wrestlers-wwe-underpay-wrestlers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2024\/04\/10\/aew-overpay-wrestlers-wwe-underpay-wrestlers\/","title":{"rendered":"Money Talks: Does AEW Overpay Wrestlers? Does WWE Underpay Wrestlers?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fans of any sport are experts on their chosen pastime. As fans, we can be armchair quarterbacks, backseat coaches, and managers who knew if you did X it would have resulted in Y. Being from the UK, which is obsessed with football (soccer), I went the other way and chose rugby as my preferred sport. <\/span><\/p>\n

Yet there is no difference between football and rugby fans in the way they think and talk about what the players, managers, and clubs should do differently.<\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to pay, and discussing the monetary worth of a player, the same rules apply. And there is a disconnect between fans and athletes. Usually, we don\u2019t make what seems like a ridiculous amount of money that they do. Also, they get to live out the \u201cdream\u201d life on and off the pitch. They are lucky. No doubt.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fans debating a wrestler\u2019s value is not unique or new. Fans do it in every sport. Yet wrestling is different for various physical and business reasons. Like other sports, fans are happy to talk about how overpaid Z wrestlers are.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recently, with\u00a0<\/span>AEW<\/span><\/strong>\u2019s signing of three of the top free agents\u00a0<\/span>Will Ospreay,<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Kazuchika Okada<\/span><\/strong>, and\u00a0<\/span>Mercedes Mon\u00e9<\/span><\/strong>, a lot of negative discussion centered on how much they are possibly being paid. <\/span><\/p>\n

Especially, Mercedes who may be the highest-paid woman in wrestling. Some reports suggested $5 million, but\u00a0<\/span>Dave Meltzer<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0has said it is not that lucrative.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are a lot of other reasons why AEW might be an attractive company for wrestlers. I wrote a\u00a0<\/span>whole article on the topic here.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0However, the negativity especially revolves around money. The thing in life described as the root of all evil, not everything but damn near everything.<\/span><\/p>\n

Limits of Tribalistic Bad Takes\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There\u2019s been a lot of negative comparisons made through the lens of WWE<\/strong> and AEW tribalism. Legitimate questions and concerns around AEW\u2019s new roster signings can be found\u00a0<\/span>here<\/span><\/a>. As for the bad faith comments, well\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Many comments I have read online about Mon\u00e9 being overvalued have bordered on sexism and misogynistic. Some fans talked as if they knew Mercedes\u2019 intentions to ruin wrestling or as if they knew her to contract back to front. One fan told me how Mon\u00e9 has a creative control clause like\u00a0<\/span>Hulk Hogan<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

These extreme takes where over-exaggeration is rife and the vitriol flows freely. Whether trolling, genuine, or somewhere in between, all flirt with the worst aspects of parasocial relationships. The reality is, that we know nothing about how wrestlers think and feel beyond interviews and tweets.<\/span><\/p>\n

Others have criticized Okada and Ospreay for just being wrestlers. When writing about\u00a0<\/span>The Bloodline\u2019s<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0display of toxic masculinity,<\/span><\/a>\u00a0I compared a meme contrasting WWE\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Roman Reigns<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0to Ospreay. The meme states that AEW has just presented Ospreay as a great wrestler. <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, to an extent. However, Billy Goat\u2019s been on AEW TV for a short period and is adjusting incredibly well to weekly episodic wrestling TV. Something\u00a0<\/span>NJPW<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0does not do. <\/span><\/p>\n

Ospreay declares he is a great wrestler, but the fans in the arena and online are investing in him. Plus, layers are being added to his character slowly. In comparison, it took years for\u00a0<\/span>Roman Reigns<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0to be accepted as the next face of the company.<\/span><\/p>\n

Elsewhere, things have been selective ignored or history is supposedly repeating itself. Mercedes having creative control is an example of many references made to\u00a0<\/span>WCW<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s becoming too easy and too misleading of a shortcut for some fans to say AEW is just like WCW.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Problem with It\u2019s Just like WCW\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Comparisons to WCW are becoming more popular. Signing these wrestlers to huge contracts is going to end AEW soon. Insert pictures of half-empty arenas as proof and a caption linking this again to WCW from the company\u2019s dying days. <\/span><\/p>\n

The problem with this discord, like earlier this year when some fans were re-evaluating\u00a0<\/span>The Undertaker<\/span><\/strong> vs.<\/span>\u00a0Sting<\/span><\/strong><\/a>, is that our current biases change our views of history.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s made easier by\u00a0<\/span>Tony Khan<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0stating that AEW is WCW\u2019s spiritual successor. Being on the same Turner networks just makes the comparison more convenient. Ratings are dipping. <\/span><\/p>\n

Another point of comparison. Compare how AEW went through a creative dip in 2024, with distractingly low attendance numbers in many markets to WWE\u2019s creative and financial resurgence, it looks like the\u00a0<\/span>Attitude Era\u00a0all over again.<\/span><\/p>\n

The issue is this is confirmation bias and pattern spotting. It\u2019s easily done but not accurate. For example,\u00a0<\/span>Jade Cargill <\/span><\/strong>is not Goldberg<\/strong>, despite some overlap<\/a>. Some fans will magnify the tiny segment of the Venn Diagram to prove their points. But this misses the larger picture and the bigger differences.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another issue with this default narrative is simply this isn\u2019t the 1990s again. Also, history itself, especially related to contracts and money, has been rewritten post-<\/span>Monday Night Wars\u00a0by WWE. Some truths have been bent out of shape.<\/span><\/p>\n

Monday Night War Propaganda<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Studying history, you learn that the person controlling the pen, spreading the information, shapes the narrative on they like. War propaganda often does not end with the war. It continues long afterward with old myths and new myths being built to put more shine on the victor.<\/span><\/p>\n

I remember being a young teenage fan watching WWE specials on\u00a0<\/span>Sky Sports<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0<\/span>Youtube<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span>Legends of Wrestling Roundtable<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>or documentaries like\u00a0<\/span>The Death of WCW<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0were two notable sources of post-war propaganda. These sources and the legends who spoke on them usually told me there were good guys and bad guys.<\/span><\/p>\n

Vince McMahonand WWE- Good.\u00a0<\/span>Eric Bischoff\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>and WCW- bad.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Undertaker<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0and the guys who stayed in WWE- good.\u00a0<\/span>Kevin Nash<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Scott Hall<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0who left- bad. Very bad.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even when WCW guys were featured, they would also rewrite history to show themselves more favorably. Especially on the Legends Roundtable. Eric Bischoff took credit for some things and avoided blame for others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Diamond Dallas Page<\/span><\/strong>\u2019s most notable defense of WCW was for how\u00a0<\/span>David Arquette<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0handled being given the WCW World Championship. <\/span><\/p>\n

Kevin Nash either confused events accidentally or purposefully lied when he justified the\u00a0<\/span>NWO Elite’s<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0failure. Nash stated Goldberg injuring himself by smashing his arm through a limousine window stopped the creative plans for Goldberg to blitz through the entire faction to re-establish him as the top guy. <\/span><\/p>\n

The issue was the NWO Elite formed in January 1999, Goldberg\u2019s injury happened in December, way after the Elite petered out.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nash and Hall,\u00a0<\/span>The Outsiders<\/span><\/strong>, were turning point players in wrestling history besides helping start the\u00a0<\/span>Monday Night War. In many ways, their legendary WCW contracts changed wrestling for the better, depending on who you believe.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Excessiveness of WCW Contracts was Bad\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Let\u2019s be clear, in many ways, the excessive amounts and bonus clauses given to some WCW wrestlers, like Hall and Nash damaged the company\u2019s finances in the long term. <\/span><\/p>\n

It contributed, along with a range of other factors such as bad creative, bad management, mistakes, and missed opportunities in marketing and merchandising, that contributed to WCW being unprofitable. WCW had an issue with accounting and contracts played a big part in this.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is well documented. I am not rebuking the countless articles and historical books that point out the financial issues created by ridiculous high-paying contracts, minimal dates, creative control, and nepotistic deals (that guys like\u00a0<\/span>Larry Poffo<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0benefitted from). <\/span><\/p>\n

This helped (partially) to sink WCW and contributed to a creative and business nightmare.<\/span><\/p>\n

The issue with the myth is that overall, the idea that paying more to wrestlers was unfair because WWE could not compete with that, and also long-term this was bad overall for the industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Excess was the problem, not the fact that wrestlers got paid more. Yet it seems now that the idea of AEW offering more money instantly means more money for wrestlers is a bad thing because of this longstanding myth and their WCW links. <\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, as far as we know, AEW isn\u2019t offering favorite nations clauses or giving celebrities who have appeared for the company like Dennis Rodman<\/strong> $1 million. But as stated, some fans are talking as if they are.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Underdog Myth of WWE\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As stated already, history is written by the winners. Those winners have talked up the ridiculous nature of the WCW contracts, and yet WWE contracts in the early 1990s, do not get mentioned. There is the famous story of the WWE being nearly bankruptcy and the watercoolers being removed from\u00a0<\/span>Titan Towers\u00a0to save cash. <\/span><\/p>\n

But WWE rebounded. It has always had the feeling of a classic Hollywood film where the underdog loses their wealth and then has to rebound.<\/span><\/p>\n

But WWE as the underdog historically is a false narrative. What WCW did tactically with contracts and money was the same as what Vince McMahon<\/strong> did to destroy the territories. Also, this famous story focuses on the corporate HQ and the office\u2019s experiences rather than the wrestlers on the road and their struggles.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also, when money has been discussed, it\u2019s usually linked to the headliners and with the narrative of WWE, desperately having to offer everything they could to keep their top talent. <\/span><\/p>\n

The millions offered to\u00a0<\/span>Bret Hart<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0for a twenty-year contract at $1 million a year stands the test of time. What isn\u2019t mentioned is how much\/ (little depending on your perspective) the rest of the roster was paid.<\/span><\/p>\n

To be clear again, WWE was in dire straits. Regarding WCW, they were the underdog financially. Nonetheless, focusing the myth on the struggle while avoiding the little wrestlers who were paid avoids debate about whether WWE was tight-fisted and treated their wrestlers fairly.<\/span><\/p>\n

New Generation Era: Business was Bad and So Was Pay\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When discussing the\u00a0<\/span>New Generation Era, the emphasis always focuses on how business was down. It was and WWE made less money on TV tapings and house shows. How this affected top talent like Scott Hall and Kevin Nash was it eventually forced them to go to WCW.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I say forced, if you have listened to various interviews with both men, they make it clear neither of them wanted to go to WCW. To what extent there is hindsight bias there is uncertainty. But when they talked about the money they received despite their value to the company, it seemed silly to begrudge them for wanting more money.<\/span><\/p>\n

WWE did have guarantees to an extent, but at a sustainable level to live comfortably:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy [WWF] contract, as was everybody’s, except for maybe Hulk [Hogan] and stuff, [Ultimate] Warrior, [was] 10 days at $150 a date, guaranteed.” Hall said, “Yeah, you made more than that, but that was what you were guaranteed. $1,500 and you give up everything for $1,500.\u201d <\/em><\/h4>\n

Scott Hall,\u00a0Wrestling Inc<\/a>.<\/em><\/h4>\n

\u201cWe got paid $75 for a TV Day and that was to cover hotel, food, and a rental car. 90% of TVs were done in the northeast. You tell me how many people, even in 1994, $75.It didn’t cover the room, let alone a town car, gas, going over a couple of bridges. Horizontal Bridge was $7 back then. You could get a $200 draw against your Pikeville house show payment of $170. I’ve actually seen people get checks and owe the company money, not even making $200 a day on the road.\u201d <\/em><\/h4>\n

Kevin Nash, Kliq This #75<\/em><\/h4>\n

Other Voices Besides Nash and Hall<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If Nash\u2019s claim some wrestlers owed the company money sounds iffy,\u00a0<\/span>Duke “the Dumpster” Droese<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0confirmed elements of this on an\u00a0<\/span>Instagram<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0story:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNew Generation payoffs was brought up earlier and I felt compelled to share this little turd nugget of truth. During the early to mid 90s WWF payoffs were the sh#ts for most of the roster. Houses were pathetic and money was way down. \u2026 On house show loops, the office made available a certain amount of cash for each wrestler should he or she need it for road expenses. This payment was called a “Draw”. Each night the road agent would ask each wrestler if they wanted to take their “Draw” for the night\u2026\u00a0<\/em><\/h4>\n

At one point in my illustrious career, I realized that the office was getting over on me for certain towns and buildings\u2026 On many house shows, as opening to mid-card match, there were MANY nights where my payoff was less than $200. There were tours where I knew to take my $200 draw because my check would be less\u2026 the smallest check I ever got from the WWF was a payoff for a small Canadian tour for a whopping $1.99 (yes in Canadian). Not every broke former wrestler squandered away millions of dollars\u2026 So you are welcome current WWE roster. Your publicly traded billion-dollar company was built on the broken backs of many guys like me<\/span><\/em>.\u201d <\/span><\/h4>\n

Duke \u201cThe Dumpster\u201d Droese,<\/span>\u00a0Instagram<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/h4>\n

It has been estimated by some that lower card wrestlers like Droese may have made money in the region of $65,000 per year, around $100,000 in today\u2019s value. Now the average wage annual salary in America last year was $59,384. Wrestlers then earned more. But that\u2019s without taking out all the expenses and taxes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like DDP Said, That\u2019s a Good Thing\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In any sport, the promoters and those at the top want to ensure they control the amount of money paid to talent. The changes in contracts did not benefit the promoters long-term, but it benefited the wrestlers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Guaranteed money existed in wrestling before Hall and Nash went to WCW, just not that high an amount. In 1996, Vince started offering downsize guarantees to counter-act WCW\u2019s tactics. <\/span><\/p>\n

This benefited those wrestlers who stayed in WWE. Over time, as business got better, WWE offered its wrestlers better pay. Competition, like today, created a healthier environment for wrestlers. Gave them choices in terms of earning more money, a better schedule, better creative, etc. It\u2019s a win-win for talent.<\/span><\/p>\n

More places to work and more competitive wage means companies must make changes. Improvements have to happen to retain and attract new signings.\u00a0<\/span>Diamond Dallas Page, who also called Kevin Nash the smartest guy in wrestling for changing how wrestlers earned more money, improving their livelihoods. As Page would say then, that\u2019s a good thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

When WWE had a monopoly,\u00a0<\/span>Vince McMahon had full control over their finances and how they paid wrestlers. Wrestlers earned more than before, but without competition, costs can be controlled because where else can you work?\u00a0<\/span>TNA<\/span><\/strong>,\u00a0<\/span>ROH,<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>NJPW, or the indies at the time and likely earn less on a smaller platform?<\/span><\/p>\n

No competition meant WWE could dictate terms and several experts have rightly pointed out that WWE wrestlers, compared to other top athletes elsewhere are underpaid.<\/span><\/p>\n

What CM Punk Said\u00a0<\/span><\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cGuaranteed money ruined professional wrestling<\/span><\/em>.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

CM Punk<\/span><\/strong>, The MMA Hour.<\/span><\/h4>\n

Like any statement, it can and will be weaponized. Especially against AEW who this shot was directly aimed at. When breaking down\u00a0<\/span>CM Punk\u2019s<\/strong> MMA Hour<\/strong> <\/em>interview<\/span><\/a>, I avoided as much as possible making inferences about the man\u2019s intentions or feelings. <\/span><\/p>\n

I am not Punk, but context is key. The context of this statement seemed primarily related to Punk\u2019s feelings that some young AEW wrestlers feel entitled and ungrateful.<\/span><\/p>\n

Punk talked about how some talent wanted to get weeks of vignettes and segments taped so they could have several weeks off the road. His point was if they had to survive on money drawn from the gate, rather than a guarantee, this would motivate them more to perform and be better.<\/span><\/p>\n

This connects to the \u201cold-school\u201d myth that things were better back then. The idea of experiencing the constant grind makes you worthy of your position; and makes you better exists beyond wrestling. <\/span><\/p>\n

Because the newer generation is luckier than the past, if they did what previous generations did, they would understand. It\u2019s another version of kids today who are soft.<\/span><\/p>\n

It ignores, as I stated in my article why wrestlers want to work in AEW, and how they can have a better work-life balance, especially for those with families. It also ignores some of the reality of the house show circuit. When the office gets things wrong, the talent\u2019s pay suffers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lynch in her autobiography, in a screenshot that has been shared on X, points out that when on\u00a0<\/span>SmackDown<\/strong><\/em>, weekly Monday house shows (the same night as\u00a0<\/span>Raw<\/strong><\/em>).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOftentimes meaning it costs us money to go to work.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/h4>\n

Becky Lynch: The Man: Not Your Average Girl<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n

You Wouldn\u2019t Want to Get Paid More?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Perhaps due to WWE mythmaking, but some fans still have this opinion that some wrestlers are not worth the high amounts of money they earn. This isn\u2019t again a wrestling issue. Fans of all sports complain how X isn\u2019t worth the amount he\u2019s paid.<\/span><\/p>\n

Complaints made when\u00a0<\/span>Tokyo Sports<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0reported Okada might earn $4.5 million a year drew criticism of why he would earn so that much. My counter to that would be, that is as much as\u00a0<\/span>Randy Orton<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0makes in WWE. Also, according to estimated WWE figures, both Becky Lynch and\u00a0<\/span>Seth Rollins<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0earn $3 million per year. <\/span><\/p>\n

Why isn\u2019t WWE paying them more? Especially given how impactful Lynch has been for women\u2019s wrestling and the company\u2019s historic record profit and rights fees. Shouldn\u2019t the talent performing on the shows earn more?<\/span><\/p>\n

Is it wrong that competition might lead to people being paid more?<\/span><\/p>\n

Here Comes the Money! But From Where?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Last week,\u00a0<\/span>Raw<\/em>\u00a0drew a record gate. House show business and merchandise are booming, but this is not where the biggest sources of money are coming from.<\/span><\/p>\n

When tribalistic commentators attack AEW\u2019s attendance with photos, they miss the fact, that both WWE and AEW get the majority of their money now from TV rights deals. WWE gets money from streaming rights and is paid generously by some cities to host huge PLE events, like <\/span>Clash at the Castle<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em>last year. <\/span><\/p>\n

AEW gets revenue from PPV. Now despite difficult creative last year, AEW consistently drew upwards of 100,000+ buys for PPVs with an expanding schedule also.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both businesses are doing well. WWE has more money than\u00a0<\/span>Scrooge McDuck\u00a0could likely fit in his fault. AEW business has increased year on year. Observer Newsletter suggested 2023 the company made $170-175 million. That\u2019s a 67% increase from 2022. <\/span><\/p>\n

Year on year the money AEW has earned has increased from $64 million in 2020 to $86 million in 2021. Then to a $100 million-plus in 2022. Yes, AEW might spend more. They have a billionaire\u2019s son backing the promotion. However, WWE is no mum-and-pop company.\u00a0<\/span>TKO Holdings<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0is a billion-dollar business.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ratings and attendance may be down, but money is money. Math is Math. Given not just long ago, WWE made money, just as CM Punk stated in his pipebomb \u201c<\/span>Vince McMahon\u00a0is going to make money despite himself,\u201d shows a big issue of selective memory.<\/span><\/p>\n

But back to the wrestlers, these changes in revenue streams do impact how wrestlers in WWE have been paid.<\/span><\/p>\n

Losses of Revenue<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Maven Huffman<\/span><\/strong>, a former WWE\u00a0<\/span>Tough Enough<\/strong><\/em> winner, wrestler, and now YouTuber, has released several videos breaking down wrestler\u2019s pay in WWE. Granted, Maven left WWE in 2005, but he reveals several ways the WWE pay structure has changed and impacted the wrestler\u2019s paycheques.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the early 2000s, Maven had a guarantee of $50,000, $1,000 a week, if injured or off the road. The year Maven had a broken leg and was injured for a large portion of the year he made $80,000. <\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s also without the added costs on the road. Yet being paid on paysheets, based on % of ticket sales, paid on level on the card, Maven estimated he earned $2,000 a week. Again, this seems like a huge amount of money.<\/span><\/p>\n

PPVs allowed wrestlers to receive a pay bonus. Money could go \u201cthrew the roof\u201d. The most Maven made from one PPV was $30,000 as a midcarder on his best day. Top-level talent made $100,000 per PPV. However, the WWE Network \u201cdestroyed\u201d this.<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, the sale of DVDs significantly \u201cdramatically killed\u201d quarterly royalties. Pre-Network, Maven estimated he earned more than $5,000 per quarter. Post-network that has shrunk to $300 per quarter. The rest of that money comes from video games and merchandise like action figures.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his best year, Maven earned $430,000. Take away 42-45% for tax. Take away road expenses, daily expenses, travel, hotel, food, rental cards, etc, it still leaves a decent chunk of change.<\/span><\/p>\n

But for men and women putting their bodies on the line and who statistically may not make it to retirement age, is this fair? Especially when compared to other athletes in other sports.<\/span><\/p>\n

Trickle Down Economics\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In 2021,\u00a0<\/span>Forbes\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Blake Oestriecher<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0pointed out\u00a0<\/span>Dave Meltzer\u2019s<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0assertions that even WWE\u2019s top earners,\u00a0<\/span>Brock Lesnar<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Roman Reigns<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0with their light schedule are making less in comparison to sports stars in the NFL, NBA, and MLB where some of the biggest names earn $40 million a year.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the UK, the average\u00a0<\/span>Premiership League Football<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0(soccer) player earns \u00a33 million a year. The top players, like\u00a0<\/span>Marcus Rashford<\/span><\/strong>, earn \u00a3300,00 a week!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOn any sports franchise, they\u2019re [the athletes] getting roughly 50% of the revenue. In WWE it\u2019s under 10%. So, you could put everyone\u2019s salary up five times and then you\u2019re getting the level where you would be equal to the other sports.\u201d <\/em><\/h4>\n

Dave Meltzer,\u00a0Wrestling Observer Radio<\/strong>.<\/em><\/h4>\n

Consider the fact WWE wrestlers are still \u201cindependent contractors\u201d, still having to pay for flights, accommodation, and various other travel expenses. <\/span><\/p>\n

Also, consider the physical toll on their bodies performing day in and day out in comparison to other sports stars. Now consider the rates of injury, risk, and difference in timespan for a wrestler compared to any job, beyond sports.<\/span><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t early 90s WWE and the water coolers aren\u2019t being taken out of the building. So, if WWE and TKO Group Holdings do not change their stance, it\u2019s not the wrestler\u2019s fault for wanting something more. If AEW offers more than just money, why would they not take it?<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond Tribalism\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As fans of wrestling, we should want what is best for wrestlers and the wrestling industry. On the one hand, some fans need to appreciate the benefits of competition AEW brings. Like WCW, AEW has brought improvements that have or will slowly impact how WWE does business.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet regardless of company, it\u2019s pretty clear that wrestlers, across the board, are not earning enough for a dangerous profession where one wrong move could mean paralysis. <\/span><\/p>\n

Although some of you may retain the old-school beliefs and keep the myths of WWE and the \u201cold school\u201d, please keep in mind many of those old-school names knew that things favored the promoters before them. That with time they were broken down doing what they and we love.<\/span><\/p>\n

Again, shared on X in the wake of CM Punk\u2019s guaranteed money comments was something stated by\u00a0<\/span>\u201cRowdy\u201d Roddy Piper<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0when he returned to WWE at 49.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>What would you have me do at 49 when my pension plan, I can’t take out till I’m 65? I’m not going to make 65. Let’s just face facts, guys.”\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/h4>\n

Piper died at the age of 61. Things are changing. Athletes now in their 40s are not the same as athletes in their 40s ten years ago. Yet wrestlers put themselves at risk more regularly and more consistently than other athletes every week. Regardless of the company, paid enough for this?<\/span><\/p>\n

More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/h3>\n

Header photo \u2013 AEW \u2013 Stay tuned to the\u00a0Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fans of any sport are experts on their chosen pastime. As fans, we can be armchair quarterbacks, backseat coaches, and managers who knew if you did X it would have resulted in Y. Being from the UK, which is obsessed with football (soccer), I went the other way and chose rugby as my preferred sport. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4960,"featured_media":123861,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4677,6,3],"tags":[4133,163,140,1635,46,501,830,8850,612,829,8849,250,101,47],"class_list":["post-123800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aew","category-north-america","category-wwe-universe","tag-aew","tag-becky-lynch","tag-cm-punk","tag-contract","tag-eric-bischoff","tag-kazuchika-okada","tag-kevin-nash","tag-legends-of-wrestling-roundtable","tag-mercedes-martinez","tag-scott-hall","tag-tko-holdings","tag-wcw","tag-will-ospreay","tag-wwe"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4960"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}