WWE Raw and Smackdown roster went through some major turmoil over the year 2021. The pandemic era continued through the early part which caused some big releases, every now and then. The company continued those releases even in recent times in the name of budget cuts. While this allowed them to be on the profit side, the pay level of the superstars also increased.
It was recently reported that several top WWE Raw/Smackdown talents are making a few million dollars per year. The top names like Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar make above $5 million per year on their guaranteed deals which make them the highest-paid athletes in the company.
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It was also noted that a lot of top talents are now making $2 million per year on their guaranteed deals, while some others are staying above $3 million. One un-named WWE Superstar is also reportedly making around $4 million per year on his guaranteed deal.
As for the other WWE Raw/Smackdown talents, the pay structure has changed in comparison to the early years. For many years WWE paid wrestlers a downside guarantee, meaning guaranteed salary for each year of their contract, alongside the opportunity to earn more through pay-per-view bonuses and merchandise bonuses.
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WWE Raw/Smackdown superstars have more guaranteed deals
A new report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that that tradition is over for most of the roster, possibly beginning in 2021. The reliable source informs that a wrestler could sign for $450,000 per year but due to his popularity, he could easily make $2 million based on merchandise, working at the top of the card at live events, and pay-per-view bonuses.
Now the downside guarantee for a WWE Raw/Smackdown talent is the total of what the talent makes. No bonuses are given for working more live events or pay-per-views for most of the talents.
Top Superstars do have their contracts set up differently but for non-top talents, no pay-per-view, WrestleMania bonuses, and no merchandise bonuses are offered. But the guaranteed money offered to those wrestlers became as high as it’s ever been in the history of WWE.
The source didn’t reveal what the offered rate for a WWE Raw/Smackdown talent is in recent years. Counting the exceptions, it seems like the top downside number that WWE offered was around $1 million but the number could have changed.
