Ryback On WrestleMania Payouts Of WWE Superstars

Ryback has made another controversial statement about the WWE in the run-up to WrestleMania. During his podcast, he claims that the payouts for WrestleMania are actually less than you might expect.

WWE Paycheck Bonuses

According to Ryback, WrestleMania can be the time where wrestlers receive a nice bonus in their paycheck. However, he also states that the payout can be different according to the match. If you are wrestling the kick-off or a tag match, you may be getting less than the matches later in the evening. He also stated that he got the lowest payout at WrestleMania 34.

“One of my lowest payouts of the year was WrestleMania New Orleans where we did the tag match with Swagger and Cesaro, The Usos, Primo and Epico and me and Axel that four-way tag. That was no joke one of my lowest payouts of the year pay-per-view wise.”

Even though WWE superstars are making more money because of inflation, royalty payments might not be that great. While they do have guaranteed money, Ryback’s statements indicate that WrestleMania is no guarantee of a big pay day.

Highest Earners?

Some of the highest earners actually barely appear throughout the year. And, there is still a major gap between the highest earning man and woman. The match fees among the highest paid wrestlers were also quite revealing.

Sportekz released the numbers of the highest paid wrestlers. Some just made guest appearances. Brock Lesnar topped the list of active wrestlers with $12.5 million. If Sportekz is correct, then Brock Lesnar did get beaten last year in terms of fees. According to them, Tyson Fury earned $15 million for a few limited appearances. This stands in stark contrast with Cain Velasquez who only garnered $5 million.

Value Evaluation

There are some legends on the list that surprisingly earned a lot less compared to guys like Brock Lesnar and Tyson Fury. The biggest surprises were Daniel Bryan, The Miz, and Samoa Joe who only got $1.5 million. While Seth Rollins earned $5 million, he was still topped by Roman Reigns with $5.5 million.

If the numbers are accurate, it does show a disturbing trend in the WWE. In my opinion, some wrestlers are not paid what they are worth, especially active wrestlers like Daniel Bryan. In addition to that, it also shows that there are no women on this list. While Ronda Rousey did make the top of the payroll when she wrestled for the WWE, there is no woman in sight on the current list.

Please note that the numbers pulled from Sportekz are annual contract salaries, so I assume it does not include any special appearances and/or royalties. It may though in the case of Brock Lesnar, since his appearances are so limited. As for the rest of the WWE superstars, we can only guess. But, if they are accurate, something is seriously wrong within management where value evaluation is concerned.