WWE's Argument For Asking Wrestlers To Accept Pay Cuts Revealed

In the aftermath of WrestleMania 42, WWE have released 29 wrestlers, and the company has also approached several talents about accepting pay cuts in order to remain with the organisation.

Wrestlers approached to take pay cuts, according to reports, were talents who were previously pushed at the top level in the company but are no longer being booked as top stars. Several wrestlers have accepted the offer of pay cuts from WWE to stay with the company, but two wrestlers who rejected the offers were Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston of the New Day. They have since been granted their releases.

There has been heavy criticism aimed at WWE over asking wrestlers to accept pay cuts, particularly as it has taken place amid big pay rises for TKO executives and WWE President Nick Khan. WWE's internal justification for the pay rises, according to Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Live, is that wrestlers are now working less than they were in the past.

"From what I understand, these people who have been asked to restructure their deals are people who are upper mid-cardish, maybe even higher than that. The ones I've heard, they've been around for a long time and they were making a lot of money. We're not talking a guy like Roman Reigns or a guy like Seth Rollins. The very tippy-top main eventers, they're not going to be asking the tippy-top main eventers to restructure their deals. If you are low on the card, you're probably not making enough that they're going to bother. The reason that there's a specific window, it appears, of people that are being asked to restructure is because these people signed pretty big money deals quite a while ago and they're making that money for quite a while, and now they're not where they were," Alvarez said.

"They're wanting like 50 per cent. They want a 50 per cent restructuring of these deals. If it was like 20 per cent or whatever, but they want 50. Their justification is things are very different now than when you signed this deal. Yes, we are asking you to take less money but their argument is you are doing significantly less now. You're not doing four house shows a week. You're not on the road four days a week paying for your transportation and your hotel and your this and your that. You're on the road one day a week, you're wrestling maybe twice a month. This is we want to pay you less because you're doing less now. That is their mindset. Do not yell at me, I'm just telling you that that's their perspective there."

WWE's schedule has dramatically reduced in recent years, particularly since the completion of the WWE-UFC merger into TKO Group Holdings in 2023. Over 300 events per year was common for WWE, but this has fallen to under 200, with the company often only holding house shows during international tours.

A reason for the pay cuts and releases is that WWE were reportedly tasked by TKO with cutting millions of dollars in payroll. Wrestlers released included the Motor City Machine Guns, the whole of the Wyatt Sicks, Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, Tonga Loa, and JC Mateo.

If you use any quotes from this article please credit the original source and give an H/T to Cultaholic.com.