Wrestler salaries and contracts are perhaps one of the most discussed topics of late amongst fans and those within the industry, especially with New Level’s recent signing to AEW after being asked by WWE to take more than a 50 percent pay cut. When it comes to younger stars that WWE, a publicly traded company invests in, however, WWE Hall of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield discussed his opinion on an episode of “Something to Wrestle.”
“They take a lot of chances on a lot of people. I don’t have any problem with the cuts and the releases and the salaries,” he said. “It’s about what you negotiate. But, WWE takes a lot of chances with a lot of people, and they pay people incredibly well to train there. These people that are there training may think they’re not getting paid that well.”
JBL said in his day, they weren’t making enough money “to do anything,” though he understands that’s his “old school” way of thinking. He said what young talent today are being asked to do, compared to what he had to do, is like “apples and oranges.” He said he wouldn’t change the way he started in the business, but said up-and-comers have it good today.
“Whatever they pay them down in ‘NXT,’ $40k, $80k, whatever that is, that’s a pretty good wage to start out to learn how to train, to see if you can make it in this business,” JBL said. “So, they spend a lot of money that just goes out the door, because the people don’t make it. So, I think it makes perfect sense for them to try and lock them in, because of the investments they make.”
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Something to Wrestle” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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