WWE News: Former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Explains The Difference In Pay Scale In The WWE


In professional wrestling, the object for every competitor is to achieve the greatest height that one can in the industry, which leads to more popularity and recognition. In turn, this affects the paycheck, as the top guys are the ones who make the most earnings. When Dusty Rhodes used to commentate for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), he would always refer to the winners of the match as going to the “pay window,” emphasizing that they would get the winner’s purse. While this had the appearance of simply being tongue-and-cheek, there was a great deal of truth to this statement.

Many wrestling fans are aware that the level of pay differs between a set of talent working under the WWE umbrella. In some cases, the difference is vast and could be argued as unfair.

One of the examples of this is a feud that occurred in the 1990s between The Undertaker and Kamala. As the strong and popular babyface, Undertaker was vying to take down the hated and scary Kamala. While both needed each other to make it work, Kamala has made it known in recent interviews that he received significantly different pay, even though he was one of the top stars of the company at the time. Allegedly, The Undertaker received $500,000, while Kamala only received $13,000.

In a recent interview with The Pancakes and Powerslams Show, former WWE star Rob Conway validated this claim by discussing his own experience working in WWE.

After spending time in Ohio Valley Wrestling, Conway immediately made an impression in the WWE by appearing as a fan to celebrate with the Dudley Boyz. This led to him turning on the Dudleyz and aligning himself with La Resistance as a French sympathizer. His partnership with the team allowed him to win the WWE World Tag Team Championship with Sylvain Grenier.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10203741345679623&set=a.10203035788441133.1073741852.1397812221&type=3

As tag team champion, Conway explained why title holders made more money.

“Absolutely [there is a difference]. When you’re one of the champions, especially in a tag team. At the time, we had more tag teams than what they had in four or five years. So you’d only have so many tag team matches at the live events. Every live event, you’re gonna have the tag team title match. So if you’re the tag team champions, you’re gonna be at the live event, they find a spot for you on television, and generally at the pay per views. So the pay per views and the live events are where you make a bulk of your money, as well as being in video games and action figures. With a 30 to 40 person roster, you can’t have everyone that’s at television every week at all the live events. So, it was definitely a boost based on where you’re at on the card and the importance of your matches.”

Conway also explained the importance of being a top guy for the company, stating that “the people [who] make the most money are the ones [who] people came to see.” He made a comparison of people desiring to see John Cena and Brock Lesnar if they were the only two at a mall doing an autograph signing, compared to if the rest of the roster was at another mall.

While La Resistance became one of the most hated tag teams of the 2000s, Conway explained that WWE broke the team up due to the emergence of the Muhammed Hassan character, an Arab who was demanding the sympathy of Americans. According to Conway, the team could have just moved to SmackDown, but WWE wanted only Hassan to get the anti-American heat. Unfortunately, the Hassan character was unexpectedly dissolved due to the London attacks that occurred in 2005, as reported by Fox News.

https://www.facebook.com/topropepress/posts/579446952197953:0

Thankfully, Conway was able to find a resurgence in his wrestling career, becoming a two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and defending the title at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest show of the year, Wrestle Kingdom, in 2014.

[Featured Image by WWE]

Share this article: WWE News: Former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Explains The Difference In Pay Scale In The WWE
More from Inquisitr