WWE Stars Finally Receive Their WrestleMania 30 Payoffs

While the WWE is facing mass staff cuts due to the low WWE Network subscription number released today, it seems as if not everything is so gloomy for WWE employees, at least as it pertains to the talent. With the introduction of the WWE Network, many performers within the company were concerned about how it would affect their pay-per-view payoffs, especially as it related to WrestleMania. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the payoffs were sent to the talents last week and the numbers were better than expected. There were several names upset about the decline in royalties from the WWE's long-running video game series, which led to increased concern regarding the WWE Network. WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley even publicly expressed his dismay earlier in the year, stating that he wouldn't be re-signing a WWE Legends deal due to the the huge drop off in royalty pay. Fortunately for the WWE talent, the company's pay-per-view and Network revenue was actually up from last year, this in part to the fact that WrestleMania 30 still sold 690,000 pay-per-views, outdrawing even what the WWE Network had sold for a fraction of the price. Moving forward, the WWE will also offer fans the ability to purchase individual months of the Network, in an effort to improve revenue. It has been noted that subscribers who pay for the network via PayPal have had this option all along, as opposed to others locked into the six-month commitment.