Details On How WWE Pay Has Changed For Talent

It was recently reported that several top WWE talents are making a few million dollars per year, with top talents like Reigns and Lesnar making above $5 million per year on their guaranteed deals. It was also stated that a lot of top talents are now making $2 million per year on their guaranteed deals, while some others are at $3 million. There is also one un-named WWE Superstar making around $4 million per year on their guaranteed deals.

As for other talent, the pay structure has changed. For many years WWE paid wrestlers a downside guarantee, where they were guaranteed a salary each year of their contract, but they were able to earn more through pay-per-view bonuses and merchandise bonuses, among other ways. A new report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that this is not how things are done these days, at least for most of the roster.

It was noted how in the past, a wrestler could sign for $450,000 per year but then get hot and make another $2 million based on merchandise, working at the top of the card at live events, and pay-per-view bonuses. Now the downside guarantee is the total of what the talent makes, and there are no bonuses for working more live events or pay-per-views, at least for most people.

There are some WWE talents, mainly top stars, who have their contracts set up differently, as top guys always do. However, for non-top talents, there are no pay-per-view bonuses, no WrestleMania bonuses, and no merchandise bonuses, but the guaranteed money offered to those wrestlers is as high as it's ever been in company history.

These new deals are worth more than what the going rate was in recent years. There has always been exceptions, but in recent years the top downside number that WWE offered was around $1 million, but that has apparently changed.

Stay tuned for more.