The Salary Of Every Current WWE Superstar Revealed
The salaries of WWE superstar are always a controversial topic. There are superstars on the current WWE roster who have put the tenure in to earn a substantial level of pay. Others, although they are indeed tenured competitors, are not as fortunate to make a significant level of income compared to the top names.
Former WWE superstar Ryback once made it quite clear on his thoughts of wrestlers getting unequal pay. According to the former Intercontinental Champion, winning and losing should be a non-factor when it comes to the amount wrestlers are paid. Since wrestling is predetermined, and “every wrestler is as valuable as the next,” there should not be a gap in pay based on who the person is.
For many wrestling fans, this plea for equal pay does not bode well when it comes to properly recognizing what certain names are doing in order to draw crowds. Since not every WWE superstar has the captivating ability to headline shows, the general feeling is that the pay scale should reflect that. On the other side, there is the complaint, as Ryback expressed, of WWE having the ultimate ability to make or break any superstar, as well as decide who will be pushed or not.
To show the seismic gap in pay, Birmingham Live released a list of the salary for every current superstar on the WWE payroll. Without a doubt, Universal Champion Brock Lesnar is on the top of the list at $10 million. This means that every time the WWE Universe sees Lesnar in a ring, he is taking $500,000 home with him. In addition, Lesnar also reportedly pockets $100 million in merchandise sales. Up next is John Cena with $8.5 million. For over a dozen years, Cena has been a main event mainstay and has more world title reigns than any WWE-bred superstar in company history.
Next is the No. 1 contender for the Universal Championship, Roman Reigns, banking an annual salary of $5 million. Reigns will be competing in his fourth consecutive WrestleMania main event (with previous matches against Brock Lesnar, Triple H, and The Undertaker at WrestleMania31–33, respectively).
This feat has only been matched one time in WWE history, with Hulk Hogan being in the main event of WrestleManiaV–VIII against Randy Savage, The Ultimate Warrior, Sgt. Slaughter, and Sid Justice, respectively. He was also in the main event of WrestleMania I, II, and III but did not make the main event of WrestleMania IV.
WWE Champion A.J. Styles makes two-and-a-half times less than Reigns, and five times less than Lesnar, banking $2 million annually.
IT'S ON! #TheBigDog @WWERomanReigns will challenge @BrockLesnar for the #UniversalTitle at #WrestleMania! #WWEChamber pic.twitter.com/nzU2bE2CQc
— WWE WrestleMania (@WrestleMania) February 26, 2018
Here is the list of men’s and women’s salaries, according to Birmingham Live.
Men’s Salaries
Brock Lesnar $10 million
John Cena $8.5 million
Roman Reigns $5 million
Randy Orton $4.5m
Seth Rollins $3 million
The Miz $2.5 million
AJ Styles $2 million
Dean Ambrose $2 million
Dolph Ziggler $1.4 million
Sheamus $1 million
Jeff Hardy $1 million
Jinder Mahal $900,000
Big Show $850,000
Goldust $400,000
Titus O’Neil $300,000
Sin Cara $700,000
Chris Jericho $750,000
Luke Harper $550,000
Rusev $600,000
Erick Rowan $550,000
Bray Wyatt $1 million
Bo Dallas $300,000
Braun Strowman $300,000
Triple H $2.5 million
Apollo $300,000
Matt Hardy $650,000
Samoa Joe $800,000
Scott Dawson $250,000
Undertaker $2 million
Kane $900,000
Cesaro $500,000
Luke Gallows $250,000
Kalisto $350,000
Big Cass $250,000
Heath Slater $400,000
Curtis Axel $250,000
Curt Hawkins $200,000
Big E $500,000
Fandango $400,000
Epico Colon $200,000
Kevin Owens $750,000
Mike Kanellis $200,000
Jey Uso $250,000
Jimmy Uso $250,000
Kofi Kingston $500,000
R-Truth $550,000
Rhyno $500,000
Shinsuke Nakamura $400,000
Xavier Woods $350,000
Zack Ryder $400,000
Viktor $250,000
Women’s Salaries
Ronda Rousey $1.5 million
Charlotte Flair $550,000
Nikki Bella $350,000
Alexa Bliss $350,000
Mickie James $300,000
Brie Bella $300,000
Natalya $300,000
Asuka $250,000
Summer Rae $120,500 (recently released from WWE)
Nia Jax 100,000
Mandy Rose $80,000
Dana Brooke $200,000
Sonya Deville $100,000
Bayley $200,000
Becky Lynch $250,000
Carmella $120,000
Lana $200,000
Liv Morgan $75,000
Naomi $180,000
According to these numbers, Ronda Rousey is coming in above every current women’s wrestler at $1.5 million.
If these numbers are true, one could certainly gripe backstage about the unequal pay since Rousey has not even competed in a match yet. However, there is the star power element of drawing crowds, which brings the argument full circle.
