‘I’m Not Going To Be Compensated Less To Get A WrestleMania Moment’ – Top AEW Star On Wrestler Pay

Published: Mar 12, 2026 by Connel Rumsey | Last Updated: Mar 12, 2026 by Connel Rumsey

Connel has over five years of wrestling journalism experience writing about some of the biggest stories from across the wrestling world. Being a fan for 20 years, Connel has an expansive knowledge from a wide range of various wrestling promotions, including WWE, AEW, NJPW, TNA and Joshi.

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WWE/AEW

A top AEW star has opened up on the difference in pay for wrestlers in AEW compared to WWE amid discussions about UFC fighter pay.

Recently, Ronda Rousey made comments in regards to UFC fighter pay, which has been a big talking point for the company over the past few years.

With UFC and WWE now sister companies under TKO, the concerns for fighter pay have now also emerged in regards to WWE wrestlers.

However, with AEW now an alternative promotion, wrestlers now have another major promotion to make money in the United States, and one of AEW’s top stars has now opened up on wrestler pay differences between WWE and AEW.

Speaking to Denise Salcedo, AEW World Champion MJF was asked about Rousey’s comments in regards to UFC fighter pay, with MJF noting that it’s ‘the one thing he can agree on’ with Rousey.

He then spoke about wrestler pay in the industry, and people leaving AEW to earn less money in WWE.

He said:

“We’re where the best wrestle, that’s just a fact. Me, Swerve Strickland, Hangman Adam Page, Samoa Joe, Kenny Omega, Brody King, Bandido, I’ll just say it after I had to wrestle him last week; fuckin’ Kevin Knight. Speedball Mike Bailey’s really got something, Kyle Fletcher, Okada, Takeshita, Jon Moxley, I can go on until I’m literally out of oxygen.

“This is where the best wrestle, we’re real premier athletes. We’re not models, we’re not ex-football players or ex-volleyball players or whatever, this is what we’ve wanted to do from the jump. Everyone whose name just came out of my mouth, the only thing they’ve ever wanted to be is a professional wrestler, and we have honed our craft to the best of our abilities which has made us so incredible, which is why we’re getting compensated the way we should be compensated.

“I can not- God bless people that do it. People will jump to the other place to get booked the same or worse to be compensated for less. Why? I don’t know. If the answer is legacy, you know what I want my legacy to be? I want my legacy to be that my children are able to afford to go to any school they want, they can go to any restaurant they want. They’re gonna be able to go on vacations, they’re gonna be able to wear the nicest clothes. That’s happening because I get compensated what my talent is worth.

“I’m not gonna settle for less compensation so I get tohave a WrestleMania moment. That doesn’t make sense to me. My legacy is my family, my legacy is my wife, my legacy is my children, my grandchildren, etc.

“My legacy is also what I do in the squared circle and on this microphone, and I can assure you, if you make a big enough name in All Elite Wrestling, your legacy is gonna go a long way in this fanbase.

“No-one’s gonna forget the name MJF. No-one’s gonna forget the names of all those gentlemen I just mentioned previously. So it is important to pay professional wrestlers what we’re worth. We wake up every morning in a severe amount of pain. What we do is incredibly painful, what we do is incredibly hard, what we do is incredibly taxing. What we do takes us away from our families, and our children, and our grandchildren.

“So yeah I think it’s really important to pay your pro wrestlers, to pay your fighters, to pay your football players, soccer players, baseball players, what they deserve to be compensated.

“Tony Khan, is he a Mark? Yes. But he’s also caring and genuine and understands what we’re doing, we’re putting our bodies on the line for him to make money, so the least he can do is shill some of that back to us.”

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MJF is set to defend the AEW World Championship against ‘Hangman’ Adam Page in a Texas Deathmatch at this weekend’s AEW Revolution event.