So, Becky Lynch says she should be paid more than Vince McMahon. There are a couple of ways to look at this. Wrestlers pushing for more money isn’t new as all of us, no matter our walk of life, want to earn more. Especially if we’re good at what we do. Everyone should be paid fair market value if they earned it. It’s that simple.
Diving in head first
Thank you @high_risk_maneuver for the quote.
“I should be making more in that whole company, everybody — Vince McMahon included. I want to change the game. I want to prove that it doesn’t matter your gender, your race, your background. If you are doing the job and keeping people invested, if you are keeping people interesting, then you deserve to be paid at a level high than anybody else.
“Or as high as anybody else. As high as the best of them. I look around the arenas and the majority of people are in my shirts. The majority of people hold signs for me, so pay me as such and that will be the way it will be.”
And herein lies part of the problem. Jim Ross mentioned a few months ago on his podcast that he was told the WWE doesn’t pay out for whomever sells out the house, that it’s the WWE brand that sells tickets now.
If that’s true, then the WWE wrestlers are most likely making a flat salary with various incentives for having good matches, cutting good promos, etc. It’s a change from when the big ticket people were paid a share of the sales that night, but it’s still a fair wage. The question then becomes do they get a percentage of their merchandise sales?
There have been mixed responses to that since professional wrestling is a world in itself and contracts are typically private aside from a few details. It’s just how it works everywhere with contracts.
Looking for a new contract
There’s also the possibility this is just Lynch trying to negotiate by taking her thoughts public. If it is, the possible threat that the WWE could lose her to AEW would give her extra leverage.
The problem comes when/if someone feels they’re better than they really are? How many times have we seen sports stars switch teams and never be near as good as they were previously? The same with sports entertainment. Sure, Lynch may thrive in another promotion, but without the household name, the script writers, and the controlled WWE atmosphere there is a momentary doubt.
This is a ploy that entertainers and athletes have regularly done for years with mixed results. Generally, it’s a top talent that was going to get paid enormously anyway, so it’s difficult to judge how effective a strategy this is. Only those taking part know for sure, and one will say one thing, the other another. It’s like an old married couple agreeing to stick together for a few more years.
This is interesting because there were reports a month or two ago that claimed Becky Lynch had resigned with the WWE, but she denied it. Around the same time, there were reports showing she was making roughly $200k or so — a good chunk less than the male champions on the roster. If those reports were accurate. Taking a grain of salt here.
WWE made her
This is 100% fact. Lynch previously said her current character is her throwing caution to the wind, that it was her last chance and she put everything into it.
Good for her. Unfortunately, from that point on the WWE made her, and they could break her.
As great as her character was initially, she plateaued months ago (around the typical 6 month mark), but the WWE had invested so much into her to be the face of their company and to show they’re support for equality that she was shifted into the tag team division for one of the more boring run in recent memory.
Why?
To protect her from going through what Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns went through. The fans were turning on her and even booed her in Europe leading up to the Survivor Series. We’re bored, and her character showed absolutely zero growth.
So they put her with Charlotte Flair so we could see two of the Four Horsewomen chase tag team gold before breaking them apart in time for a WrestleMania run.
There’s no doubt Becky Lynch will hold onto the championship to WrestleMania before she probably loses it to Shayna Baszler. Then she’ll be put into the same breath as the Fabulous Moolah as the greatest champions in history.
It’s great that she’s seeing her shirts and signs in the audience. It means some fans still love her. But considering how much the WWE universe has shrunken over the last year, and she’s been the Raw Women’s Champion during most of that time, maybe she needs to take some of the blame for that as well?
Honestly, she should be paid on equal footing with Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. Both are former champions as well as two of the promotion’s top talent, and Reigns will most likely be the Universal champion after WrestleMania.
But she should also remember the Original Screwjob and what happened to Wendi Richter for wanting equal pay. While in this day and age Lynch can take to social media to claim foul, that doesn’t mean she can’t or won’t be buried at some point if she steps out of line. And if she doesn’t, she’ll have McMahon’s loyalty and could become the next Fabulous Moolah.
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