WWE wrestlers salaries

[KDawg]

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Seems low, particularly if most are paying their own travel expenses. What's the average career length? Can't be more than a half dozen years, right?

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for performing in the big fed, maybe less. Back in the pre-wrestlemania era the career was much longer because of the territory system where you could be a fresh character in many different places and the fact that the in ring product wasn't nearly as debilitating as it is now. The monday night wars have been both good and bad for the fan. What has been good for us as the fan is that we get high quality matches every week and guys busting their ass constantly. That is the downside too as the pounding that they take night in night out busting their ass shortens their career significantly

[Chairman Wood]

Most if not all of these guys are underpaid. The toil and stress that a full time wrestling career puts on people is huge. Time away from family, being forced to wrestle hurt are only the tip of the iceberg. Even the guy that don't juice still live the rest of their lives with terrible health problems. I don't think there is enough money that would have me do this job for 10+ years.

[GeniusToad]

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Wow, I thought they made A LOT less. I remember watching Beyond the Mat and had the impression that most were making 5 digits and the top guys about $500k.

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Beyond the Mat was made in 1999 - in case that makes a diff.

[EricW]

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Most if not all of these guys are underpaid. The toil and stress that a full time wrestling career puts on people is huge. Time away from family, being forced to wrestle hurt are only the tip of the iceberg. Even the guy that don't juice still live the rest of their lives with terrible health problems. I don't think there is enough money that would have me do this job for 10+ years.

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I definately agree. These guys do a few "house shows" every week in addition to the bigger shows like Raw and Smackdown and although wrestling is scripted, the bumps and bruises are infact very real.

[amplify]

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Even the guys that don't juice still live the rest of their lives with terrible health problems.

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I really don't think juicing really contributes to their health problems much. It's like a papercut. All those blows to the neck are killing them though. Benoit, Angle, Austin, Edge and many others have had vertebrae in their neck fused. They are basically risking paralysis every time they take a bump. Blading has little to do with it.

[T-God]

Seems like these guys get screwed over by the companies they work for alot. Like not being paid when you get hurt or being released when you get too old without anything to fall back on. Always wondered why they don't have a wrestler's union.

[amplify]

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Always wondered why they don't have a wrestler's union.

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Pretty much one reason. Vincent K. McMahon.

[KDawg]

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Wow, I thought they made A LOT less. I remember watching Beyond the Mat and had the impression that most were making 5 digits and the top guys about $500k.

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That movie was made a long time ago. Its entirely possible that was close true at the time.

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IIRC, that movie was made around 1999 which was when Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock were bringing in cash hand over fist and WWE was still competing with WCW. I would imagine salaries were actually higher then.

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the salaries were much higher, Bret Hart's 3 million a year contract with dubbya see dubbya is just one to look at. Rick Steiner, Kevin Nash, Booker T, Stevie Ray, Scott Steiner, Buff Bagwell, Sid Vicious, DDP, Ernest the Cat Miller, Hogan, Savage, and there were others that were getting paid over 1 million a year from Turner in WCW. Those were just off the top of my head.

[Chairman Wood]

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really don't think juicing really contributes to their health problems much. It's like a papercut. All those blows to the neck are killing them though. Benoit, Angle, Austin, Edge and many others have had vertebrae in their neck fused. They are basically risking paralysis every time they take a bump. Blading has little to do with it.

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I sometimes wonder why a lot of these guys do it. Especially the guys that work real hard to get to a level like the WWE and are paid peanuts. I would expect they all would all explain it as some kind of natural high they get from performing in a match on TV and in frong of thousands of people.

[KDawg]

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Even the guys that don't juice still live the rest of their lives with terrible health problems.

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I really don't think juicing really contributes to their health problems much. It's like a papercut. All those blows to the neck are killing them though. Benoit, Angle, Austin, Edge and many others have had vertebrae in their neck fused. They are basically risking paralysis every time they take a bump. Blading has little to do with it.

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if you look at some of the recent deaths, as in the past 6 years, of wrestlers, roids played a major part in the deaths. Namely due to enlarging of the heart and other physical ailments. The ailments part of it is due to the fact taht roids can help you come back from injury faster and you combine that with all of the somas and vicodins that wrestlers pop, it really screws with their bodies long term