Does WWE's current method of paying talent leave Superstars reluctant to the 'grind' that Paul Levesque spoke of during WrestleMania week?
At a WWE World event, the WWE COO spoke of talent choosing other promotions because they don't want to deal with the 'grind' of being a Superstar. While Triple H didn't mention any names or companies, AEW's Will Ospreay saw the line as a dig at him which led to a scathing comment about Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
In a recent interview with WWE alum Maven Huffman, Mace and Mansoor discussed how being paid works in the modern-day. Maven explained how when he was under contract, he was paid a percentage of what events made, giving him a reason to try and work events as much as possible.
Those days are a thing of the past, as Mansoor explained how like Maven, modern talent are paid weekly, but at a fixed rate no matter what.
So we do get a check in the mail every week, but it's the same number every time. No matter how many shows you work; no matter how many times you wrestle. Even if you don't wrestle at all. We get the same payment every week. We get guaranteed money no matter what.
Mace added that a talent knowing they will receive the same amount each week may be discouraged from working as they'll make just as much money sat at home.
In a way you're actually not incentivized to work because when you're working house shows, doing all these dates, you have to pay for your car. You have to pay for your hotel and the only thing we don't pay for are our flights. If you were just sitting at home hurt, you're just getting your weekly paycheck.
Maven questioned how factors like merch sales and appearances are relevant given this system and Mansoor would explain how the 'bucket system' works.
Every time you work a show, you get an invisible payment that doesn't actually go into your bank account. It goes into the metaphorical bucket. The top of the bucket is your downside... If your downside is $125,000, then every time you work a show, they make an invisible payment of $1,000. Now you don't see that $1,000 until you make $125,000 worth of bookings on top of your downside. So everything above $125,000 is a bonus for you.
With the bucket system, talent can be left waiting for some time before they see the benefits of working house shows and other events. Unfortunately, as the pair explained, a talent getting close to overflowing their 'bucket' may find themselves be kept off TV and house shows with the reasoning that 'creative has nothing for you.' This, of course keeps talent from being paid the bonus they would have had their 'bucket' overflowed.
WWE's way of paying talent has clearly changed since Maven's tenure and while it may have flaws, it has made many wrestlers (and of course the company) a lot of money. In this new era, we can't count out that WWE could change its payment to a system more favorable to the talent in the ring.
