5 WWE Superstars who were allegedly refused a pay raise
Given the career longevity of some WWE Superstars, it is only natural that many of the men and women in WWE receive multiple pay raises during their time with the company.
Brock Lesnar, for example, earns a reported $12million per year according to figures that were published by the Daily Express in 2019, while John Cena ($8.5m) and Roman Reigns ($5m) are also among the highest-earning Superstars on the WWE roster.
Needless to say, those multi-time WrestleMania main-eventers earned nowhere close to that amount at the start of their WWE careers, and it took many years for them to become WWE’s wealthiest Superstars.
Now, while the likes of Lesnar, Cena and Reigns have been successful both in and out of a WWE ring, some high-profile performers have not been as fortunate when it comes to negotiating new deals for themselves.
In this article, let’s take a look at five WWE Superstars who were allegedly refused a pay raise.
#5 WWE SmackDown Superstar Drew Gulak
In April 2020, WWE released over 20 Superstars as a cost-cutting measure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
One month later, Drew Gulak’s WWE contract expired, even though he was involved in a storyline with Daniel Bryan at the time, and he briefly became a free agent before signing a new deal with the company.
The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that Gulak had asked for an increase in pay but WWE's higher-ups were reluctant to offer him a better deal at a time when other Superstars had been released for financial reasons.
“The story going around is essentially that he asked for a raise, they said no, and they pulled the offer that they had originally offered. It was something along those lines. It was definitely a money situation where, you know, the basic situation is that they are not giving any raises right now, which I guess understandable because they cut so many people.” [H/T Sportskeeda’s Lennard Surrao]
Meltzer also reported that Gulak hired Barry Bloom to represent him in contract negotiations with WWE. Bloom, who used to represent Triple H, has negotiated contracts on the behalf of several wrestlers over the last three decades.