WWE stars’ salaries revealed as McMahon cuts costs to save £3m… a fraction of top earner Brock Lesnar’s massive wage
WWE released a number of their superstars earlier this year as the company took drastic measures to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
But the £3million Vince McMahon expected to recoup at the cost of 21 wrestlers is only a fraction of the £8m Brock Lesnar pockets as the company's top earner.
The nine other stars who join the Beast Incarnate in the top ten helped propel the overall gross to a combined £30.6m before taxes in 2019.
revealed in 2020 that the figure was up on the previous year and they attributed the rising pay scale to the increased competition from AEW as well as lucrative TV deals.
WWE pays each wrestler a baseline income - called a “downside guarantee” - that locks in their minimum salary.
But additional payouts on high-selling events and merchandise sales are likely to take a hit because of the coronavirus crisis.
The report only included active full-time members meaning part-timers John Cena, The Undertaker and Ronda Rousey are excluded.
As is the reported £12m payment to WBC champ Tyson Fury for his Saudi Arabia win over Braun Strowman.
Lesnar is still comfortably WWE's top earner having said to have been wrestling on a flat rate per appearance since he returned to McMahon's company 10 years ago.
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Future Hall of Famer Randy Orton is up next with earnings of £3.3m and he is followed by Seth Rollins on £3m.
The latter's fiancee Becky Lynch is the first woman wrestler to make the top ten after a meteoric year in 2020 when she became the company's top female star.
As WWE's new Executive Vice President, Global Talent Strategy and Development, Triple H's £751k base salary was revealed last month.
Wife Stephanie McMahon also takes home a similar amount on her own as the company's Chief Brand Officer, yet both of the wrestling power couple also have found a place on the list as on-screen performers.
Triple H - set to take over the company when Vince retires - netted £1.6m alone for only a couple of events in 2019 that included a WrestleMania 35 match with Batista, as well as a Saudi Arabia clash with Randy Orton.
But that pales in comparison with the £2.4m Goldberg was paid for two quick critically panned bouts against Dolph Ziggler and the Undertaker.
The former WCW star was even forced to apologise for the Saudi Arabia showdown with the Phenom where he earned a reported £1.6m for the EIGHT-minute contest.
Meanwhile, new Universal champion Braun Strowman rounds off the list after penning a new WWE deal in July 2020 that guaranteed him £1million.