Top Star Reveals He Took A Pay Cut To Join WWE

WWE

WWE Raw star The Miz has reflected on his early WWE days, revealing that he actually took a pay cut when joining the company.

Speaking on the Unbreakable podcast, The Miz noted that he had a six figure salary before making the switch from reality TV to WWE.

Noting that he chose to invest in himself, The Miz said:

“I was making a lot of money, I was making six figures. When I got to developmental, I took a pay cut, because I said ‘I can take a pay cut in this because I believe that I can make more.’

“So I invested in myself. I’ve always invested in myself … I paid for acting classes, improv classes, and learning the art of professional wrestling, UPW, and wrestling classes.

“And then I also was like ‘Oh, where do all the big world trainers go? Gold’s Gym.’”

The gamble definitely paid off for The A-Lister, who has won all the titles needed to become a WWE Grand Slam champion twice over.

Discussing his commitment to his WWE career during his early days, he continued:

“I worked out there, got a nutritionist. So I invested all my money I would make into myself. I bought all these t-shirts ahead of time and got them at $3 a t-shirt and sold them for $15 a t-shirt.

“So I wouldn’t make money off them, but it wasn’t to make money, it was necessary to promote myself and get people talking about me … so WWE would see that.

“WWE would see that, they gave me a contract, I took a pay cut, went to McDonough, Georgia, went to Louisville, and then from Louisville, I got into WWE and started making the money I thought I could possibly make.”

The Miz’ next celebrity WWE opponent has potentially been revealed, which you can read more about right here.

Transcription via EWrestlingNews.

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