‘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.

WWE’s Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. (WWE)

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.

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

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.