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‘Women’s revolution’? New report reveals huge pay gap between WWE’s male and female superstars
The WWE has heavily promoted the idea of women’s revolution in the last few years. But there is one huge area where they still need to work on.
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) saw a historical moment in 2019 - for the first time, the main event of Wrestlemania was a women’s match, a triple threat encounter between Ronda Rousey, Charlotte and Becky Lynch for both Raw and SmackDown Women’s Championship titles. Wrestlemania, which is WWE’s biggest pay-per-view of the year, was inaugurated in 1986. In 35 years of the show, it was the first time that a women’s fight had closed the ‘Grandest Stage of Them All’. WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon and WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H has been heavily vocal about ‘Women’s Revolution’ in the past few years, and the triple-threat match between Rousey, Lynch and Charlotte seemed like a summation point on the promised revolution.
In 2018, WWE saw its first-ever Women’s Royal Rumble, first Women’s Elimination chamber match, and the first-ever only Women’s pay-per-event. The women’s tag-team titles were also inaugurated the same year. So has the revolution truly arrived? Perhaps, not quite.
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A recent report by Express has revealed that there still exists a huge pay gap between the men’s and women’s salaries.
*Here is what the male superstars earned in 2019:
Brock Lesnar: $12m
John Cena: $8.5m
Roman Reigns: $5m
Randy Orton: $4.5m
AJ Styles: $3.5m
Seth Rollins: $3m
The Miz: $2.5m
The Undertaker: $2.5m
Kevin Owens: $2m
Dolph Ziggler: $1.5m
Sheamus: $1m
Jeff Hardy: $1m
Bray Wyatt: $1m
Jinder Mahal: $900,000
Kane: $900,000
Big Show: $850,000
Samoa Joe: $800,000
Rusev: $800,000
Matt Hardy: $650,000
*Here is what the female superstars earned in 2019:
Ronda Rousey: $1.5m
Charlotte Flair: $550,000
Nikki Bella: $350,000
Alexa Bliss: $350,000
Mickie James: $300,000
Natalya: $300,000
Asuka: $250,000
Becky Lynch: $250,000
Dana Brooke: $200,000
Bayley: $200,000
Lana: $200,000
Naomi: $180,000
Carmella: $120,000
Nia Jax: $100,000
Sonya Deville: $100,000
Mandy Rose: $80,000
Ruby Riott: $80,000
Sarah Logan: $80,000
Tamina: $80,000
As seen from the report, while 13 male superstars earn $1million, Rousey remains the only female superstar to reach a similar bracket.
If Triple H and Stephanie McMahon truly wish to establish an equality between WWE male and female superstars, then perhaps, sorting out the wage gap will be a huge step in the direction.
