do wrestlers get paid more, the more they work?

[Lance Uppercut]

I ask, because, back when Brand Split was taken seriously, hell before the brand split, the wrestlers were expected to wrestle X amount of times. Cause there's only X amount of days per year they could wrestle.

I always wonder if WWE does any kind of compensation when they ask someone like Jericho to Show up on Monday and Tuesday for TV. Or how about someone who was Primarily Raw wrestler and he had to show up Tuesday just for NXT.

Or how about someone who wrestles NXT and Smackdown that night?

Or when someone would perform on a Smackdown houseshow monday afternoon, take a private jet and show up on Raw as a surprise.

[rapidfire187]

I think they get bonuses for gate revenue as well as PPV bonuses when they appear. Not sure if gate revenue is only for house shows or not though. But yes, in a sense they do get compensated for working more. What I'd really like to know is if they get bonuses for pulling double duty or anything. Like, did Ziggler get paid more for working twice in one night for those 2 PPVs.

[norsisclouds]

I'm not sure but I know base pay is better on RAW than it is on Smackdown and I assume NXT.

[jobber2thestars]

I'm gonna say no, they don't get paid more if they work more. Odds are each wrestler is getting a set salary, much like you see athletes in other sports get.

[amaron]

I've always understood they have their base salary (and downside) and they get bonuses for PPV.

[Kevin Hamilton]

Dusty Rhodes led me to believe there's a windah where they receive their wages at, without fail.

[rapidfire187]

Jan 6, 2012 17:47:12 GMT -5 jobber2thestars said:

I'm gonna say no, they don't get paid more if they work more. Odds are each wrestler is getting a set salary, much like you see athletes in other sports get.

No.

They do get a set salary, or downside in their contract. Meaning that regardless of push, injuries, etc they will receive at least that much money. I think even if they're released early, the company just pays them for whatever is left on their contract and lets them go.

But they also get bonuses. PPV bonuses, Wrestlemania bonuses, gate bonuses, merchandise bonuses and so on. Sometimes it can even be unfair. For instance, I remember Jericho mentioned in his book that HHH got a much bigger Wrestlemania check than he did for Wrestlemania 18, even though they were in the same match. When Jericho mentioned it to Vince, Vince cut him a bigger check to make it right. Also, in Jericho's first book he talked about how somebody (his wife maybe? I can't remember) bought his action figure when he was in WCW and the receipt said that it was a Hulk Hogan figure. This meant that every time somebody bought his action figure, Hogan got paid for it.

So yea, not only do they not just get a set salary, they get so many bonuses that they seem to expect them. The downside just says "you will make AT LEAST this much".

[Metalheadbanger Man]

That's probably why Brodus is so angry. He can't afford to eat anymore.

[Apricots And A Pear Tree]

I think with some guys they make more money off of being in the video games then they do wrestling.Especially if they get to do motion capture for it.

[I am Jack's STD]

Jan 6, 2012 17:52:43 GMT -5 Kevin Hamilton said:

Dusty Rhodes led me to believe there's a windah where they receive their wages at, without fail.

This is the correct answer.

[johnnybaseball, Mantaur Fan]

This is several years old, but it contains a really good rundown of the relevant labor laws/policies involved in professional wrestling. It's very informative.

www.scribd.com/doc/27132241/Pinned-Down-Labor-Law-and-Professional-Wrestling

Edit: Well, this is Part III, anyway. I'll keep looking for the rest.

Edit 2: I can't find it, but the citation is "23 Ent. & Sports Law. 1," if anyone has access to Westlaw and wants to look it up.