10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (May 6)

5. The Average WWE Performer Earns $500,000 Per Year

Xavier Woods Steve Austin
WWE.com

During a study in March, it was revealed by Forbes SportsMoney that John Cena earns in excess of $9.5 million annually for his work in WWE. Slightly behind him were names like Brock Lesnar ($6 million) and Triple H ($2.8 million). Propping up the top 10 stars was Dean Ambrose, who supposedly pockets a cool $1.1 million.

Obviously, the 10 top names on the promotion's payroll are all major in-ring stars. Not everybody who works for the company earns that kind of money, but Forbes did reveal this week that the average salary in WWE (for full-time wrestlers) sits at around $500,000 each year.

That's before various bonuses, paid out for pay-per-view appearances, action figure royalties or merchandise payments. The latest episode of the SportsMoney show was very flattering for WWE, discussing the financial success of WrestleMania 32, as well as the WWE Network.

Naturally, road expenses are incurred by most WWE performers. They do an awful lot of travelling around, but it seems the annual wage is still pretty decent.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.