Overview
- On the Mostly Sports podcast, CM Punk said WWE performers no longer get extra pay for titles or main events and are largely on fixed salaries.
- Punk argued the model pays wrestlers more overall but can blunt ambition because card position no longer boosts a paycheck.
- Bleacher Report contextualized the shift with WWE earning more than $800 million annually from television for Raw, SmackDown and NXT, plus a reported $325 million a year ESPN deal for PLEs.
- Reporters noted increased global competition from AEW, TNA, New Japan and CMLL as another force pushing promotions toward guaranteed contracts.
- Pay levels remain opaque, with FandomWire citing an unverified TimesNow estimate of Punk at about $2.2 million a year and highlighting a dispute over NXT base pay between a $30,000 claim and a $75,000 counterclaim.