Published: 1 hour ago by Dave Adamson | Last Updated: 1 hour ago by Dave Adamson
Dave has been a website writer for WrestleTalk since October 2022, having previously written for Den of Geek, among a number of wrestling, movie and television-related sites. Dave has been around the independent wrestling scene for more than a decade, including behind-the-scenes.
WWE
Details have emerged regarding The New Day’s WWE pay cut that would eventually see them leave the company earlier this year.
Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods parted ways with WWE in May and have since debuted in AEW, securing the World Trios Tag Team Championship at All In: London as New Level, teaming with Swerve Strickland.
The stars now known as Kofi and Austin Creed have recently indicated that the pay cut there were being asked to accept in WWE was more than 50%, with further details now emerging.
Speaking on Grilling JR, Conrad Thompson revealed that the figure that he had heard being “bandied about” was much higher, stating:
“There was lots of rumor and innuendo at the time that they were taking a 50% pay cut.
“The rumor and innuendo that I’ve heard is it was actually a 75% pay cut, and some of that was confirmed in an interview with Ariel Helwani.
“Now, they didn’t say 75%, but that’s the number that I’ve heard bandied about.”
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Reacting to the figure, Jim Ross would simply reply “wow”.
Thompson went on to recap comments made by Kofi on the Ariel Helwani show, with the star noting that he and Creed felt the “terms that they wanted (them) to perform under were not fair based on what (they) brought to the table.”
The star would go on to confirm that “compensation was definitely a big part, but more so, we wanted to work”. Kofi would also discuss the opportunities that had brought the former New Day to AEW.
75% Pay Cut!
Regardless of how much anyone is paid, chances are a 75% pay cut would be something that would be felt by any worker.
A previous Sportskeeda report reflected on Nick Khan’s comments on the ‘meritocracy’ of WWE and how stars are paid based on marketability as a key metric, indicating that stars in the “middle” were “not getting rich” but having a “really good life”.
While no figure was offered for the “middle”, Sportskeeda suggested a figure of $350,000 per year for some main roster stars, which is, as the report notes, a “comfortable sum” to earn.
Assuming that the star is paying for their own hotels and rental cars while on the road, some of that “comfortable sum” goes to these essentials, with other costs no doubt needing to be covered. Then there’s the actual cost of living for which most of us would expect to spend out salary – healthcare, accommodation, food and anything else that needs covering on a day-to-day, month-to-month basis.
There’s a common thought that we should ideally live within our means (difficult to do in the current economic climate) and that our “means” grows along with our salary. With the right income, a more expensive home becomes accessible, with higher mortgage payments attached, along with possibly a more luxurious mode of transport, better quality food and other benefits.
A 75% pay cut would see $262,500 suddenly gone from household income, leaving $87,500. What’s left sounds like a lot of money, but not when compared to what has been lost.
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