Backstage Update On How Much WWE Pays NXT Top Stars

In a new report from Dave Meltzer over at the Wrestling Observer, there’s some details on the current pay of certain NXT stars.

When asked about the pay on table in NXT these days, Meltzer explained how nobody in the gold and black brand – bar NXT Champion Finn Balor – is making anywhere close to the $250,000 - $300,000 range.

Instead, the belief is that the majority of NXT’s top talents are making somewhere in the low $100,000s – although Meltzer did single out one particular, long-standing unnamed NXT star as making around $130,000 per year. It was also speculated that Adam Cole is around that $130K number, too.

The starting pay for NXT stars is between $50,000 - $60,000 a year, with raises given as talents progress through the system. There have also been rumblings that certain recruits – such as football players – may be offered a slightly higher basic deal upon signing with the company.

With Triple H forever pushing the narrative of NXT being a fully-fledged third WWE brand, one would imagine that the status of being a bona fide third prong of WWE would be reflected with contracts and pay to mirror those wrestlers in similar positions on the Raw and SmackDown brands – but clearly that is not the case just yet.