Which Current AEW Wrestler Took A 50% Pay Cut To Sign With WWE?
It wasn't worth the sacrifice...
New AEW signee Colt Cabana told the promotion's 'Unrestricted' podcast that he took a 50% pay cut after inking a WWE contract in 2007.
Cabana had been earning rave reviews for his work on the independent scene and in groups like Ring Of Honor, but that counted for little when it came time to join WWE. They offered him a standard developmental deal, and Colt was pretty startled to learn it was for around half the amount he was making on his own.
He signed it anyway, feeling he'd worked hard to get the opportunity and figuring he'd be able to make more down the line once he proved himself. That never happened. Cabana was renamed 'Scotty Goldman' and never made waves in the federation.
Goldman was a goner by early-2009.
Colt was in his late-20s when he signed, and he promised himself he'd go back to his teaching degree if he wasn't making a good living from wrestling by the time he was 30 years old. Fast forward to 2020 and the guy is still going at 40.
It's doubtful that AEW asked him to take the same sort of pay cut 13 years on.