WWE Talent Accepting TKO Paycuts

Added: 2026-05-09

[00:00:00]What's up, YouTube? It's your girl Chrissy. I am back with another video for your ears. And y'all know I got to do my intro so we can get right to it.

[00:00:12]So, if you got me in your car, baby, turn me up. If you at home, get up in here. Close the door because you know I got to give you something about to. So what are we talking about today?

[00:00:30]We are talking about the new era that we are in. The new era that I am officially calling the WWE restructure era. These pay cuts, these releases. Welcome to the corporate restructure era under TKO. That's what we're getting into. So I'm going to put this up on the screen. Okay? Because I want y'all to understand what WWE is doing right now. Well, TKO more than anything. So, it says, "Corporate restructuring is the strategic process of significantly modifying a company's operational or financial structure to increase efficiency, boost value, or overcome financial distress.

[00:01:19]And then it has some other stuff, you know, down here like, you know, debt refinancing, downsizing, mergers, you know, to align with new goals or market conditions. So, listen, I saw a lot of stuff yesterday and I always try to give something like a day or two to see what actually ends up happening or what's true or not. And I will say this y'all, I was seeing so many reports on, oh, Roman, uh, he got pulled from his June dates. Oh, it was a clerical error. It was this. It Listen, y'all can sit up here and be bots if you want to. Ain't no goddamn clerical error in this company. Anything that they do is intentional. You cannot tell me that a billiondoll company is sitting up making clerical errors. Like, miss me with that. Like, when I saw that, I'm like, man, this company, this is why I told y'all like, I'm not fooling around with this company. Like, this is the goofy [ __ ] that I keep telling y'all about. So, matter of fact, I got a second name for this era. It's called the WWE goofy era. Like that's what's going on too. Like this this is craziness. Like I I didn't buy that for one second. When you have a company like this, of course they are going to try and cover up certain things saying that it was a clerical error. You uh how is this a clerical error? How is it that the biggest name on your roster, your biggest money drawer for the company, you guys make a clerical error with that? I HIGHLY DOUBT IT. THAT'S like uh grounds for firing in a sense. Why would you have your biggest money maker be pulled from all its June dates and then say, "Oh, it was just a clerical error."

[00:03:20]What? Like, do I got boo boo the fool went across my forehead? Cuz I really do think that's what these people think. I keep telling y'all they around here playing with people intelligence and I'm not going to be joining the circus. Like I'm like, okay, it it can't get any worse from here. So, this video is about TKO doing pay cuts for talent. And um Kofi Kingston basically put out a statement saying basically, don't accept anything less than what you're worth. You know, y'all can't pay me enough to take a a 10% pay cut. Now, I was seeing some people saying like, well, that's just how it is and this or that. And I feel like you have some people will defend WWE'se's actions to the core and don't see anything wrong with it, but won't apply that same logic in real life. If you are at a job and and I'm just going to be honest, let's just say you're making a million dollars, right, for your salary, whatever it may be, and that company tells you, "Oh, we need you to take a a 50% pay cut, so we're going to drop you down to about 500K for your salary."

[00:04:39]Do you think anybody would be idiotic enough to say, "Oh, okay. Well, I'm going to show this company that I'm loyal. I'm going to show this company that I'm a company man and I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that and I'm going to get heavily rewarded for being a company man. Nobody in their right [ __ ] mind would do that dumb [ __ ] Nobody would because when you think about it, your finances is based off what you're currently making.

[00:05:07]When your paycheck downsizes, your life has to downsize. So, if you go from making a million dollars to now making half of that, your bills need to be cut in half because all of your bills is based off what you're currently making.

[00:05:24]And the same logic applies to these WWE superstars. I'm hearing damn near majority of the roster took pay cuts.

[00:05:33]And a lot of these people just signed new deals like the year before. That's where the New Day was. The New Day just signed a new deal last year.

[00:05:42]So, I'm assuming they didn't want to take that 50% pay cut because um let me tell you something, that's the beginning. If they ask you to take a pay cut once, they will ask you to take a pay cut again. So, if you're a wrestler, you know, and cuz I'm seeing, you know, it was like the midc card, the upper midc card, and maybe some uh lower tier talent as well. So if you're making an a million dollars from WWE, right, then they tell you, "Oh, we need you to make 500K, I don't understand anybody that would be like, okay." And what I'm seeing, a lot of the talent that already agreed to it, people is pressed to be in WWE. Like, I I'm sorry. I just have to say it, you know? And I love a lot of the talent that probably took the money that took the okay, I'll do this for now. If WWE is in debt next year, more talent will have to take pay cuts. I wouldn't give a damn if I'm in a top tier storyline, I'm not taking no pay cut. And then half half my [ __ ] at that. No, I don't think so. Like I just don't I don't understand a person's mindset to be okay with taking half of what they worked hard to get up to. I don't understand it. I don't want to be in no company that bad. If if I can make a million here, I can go somewhere else and make a million because I can make anybody match what I'm currently getting.

[00:07:18]So, you do have some people that are loyal to this company. They're loyal to Triple H. They're loyal. You know, some people I think one of the Garza brothers or the Garza Lagarza, one of them um has said cuz somebody had commented on something that they posted. And the fan was like, you know, I don't understand why you stay in WWE. They're not using you correctly. You know, I would just go somewhere else. and he responded and said, "Hey, I have a family, so regardless of what I'm doing, I'm getting paid to to not be doing anything."

[00:07:53]And I'm and I'm putting it into context.

[00:07:56]It's not verbatim, but that's literally what he was saying. And you have a lot of people who think like that. These wrestlers have families back home, three, four, five, six kids, you know, and they feel like, well, I might as well just stick it out here, then go somewhere else, you know. Look at Johnny Gargano, Candace Laray. They're not using you. They're not using you at all.

[00:08:19]But maybe the money is good and they like, "Well, we'll stay here until they release us." Whatever. But yeah, like I said, you couldn't pay me enough to take a pay cut. I don't care what's going on. You know, personally, I feel like my pay has nothing to do with your debt. That sounds like a company problem that has nothing to do with me coming out here paying for my hotels, you know, because I know WWE covered the flights according to Jay Carill, but everything else, your food, your outfits, you know, hey, it costs money to be fly out here.

[00:08:54]It costs money for me to make my gear. I got to pay people. I can't afford to take a pay cut. So, yeah, y'all going to have to figure something else out. But, you know, you have a lot of people where they they are okay. they are okay with taking the pay cut because they look at it like they will be rewarded in the end. And I will say Vince owning the company is very different from a corporation owning the company. Vince always rewarded loyalty.

[00:09:27]But the difference with Vince and I was having a conversation with my friend and he brought up how you know uh Vince sort of did the same thing you know he didn't want to pay wrestlers and I said you know do you know what the difference between Vince and TKO is the difference like okay let's say uh Bret Hart for example we all know he wanted more money Vince never asked for Bret Hart to take a pay cut he didn't want to increase Bret Hart's pay. That's two totally different things. Basically, if Brett Hart would have stuck it out for a couple of more years, he would have got maybe what he got from WCW, you know, over time. I understood, you know, he had a family and all of that, but when you kind of look at the the landscape at the time, Vince wasn't in a position to pay talent that kind of money, and he understood that. So he would let people go like, "Okay, well look, you go greater pastor somewhere else." But if he would have stuck it out, you know, uh, became a household name or became a money draw for WWE, he would have got exactly, you know, what he wanted. But that's the difference in a man, a person owning the company versus a corporate structure. Nick Khan has made it clear the big three in this company is Roman Reigns, CM Punk, and Cody Rose. If you are not those three guys, hey, I I'm sure they would be willing to do without a lot of people, I'm sure if if Roman asked for 30 million, 40 million, whatever he asks for, I'm sure they give it to him because he is the last that he he's the last star. They are not going to lose Roman Reign due Roman Reigns due to a money dispute. I just don't see that happening. They will cut 30 more people to increase Roman salary. Like that's uh you know it may be messed up but hey like it's the truth. That's what happens when you are a star. You are expendable.

[00:11:35]You are expendable to the guy that they need. Anybody can get cut if Romans, you know, if he wants to be paid a certain amount.

[00:11:46]And low-key, we just even saw that with Triple H. Talent got cut so he can make more money. That is just how it is. If they value you, if they see you as somebody like, "Hey, we need this person. Hey, who can we do without?

[00:11:59]Who's on these million-dollar contracts that shouldn't be on these million-dollar contracts?" The days of these wrestlers bragging about their money and stuff like that is probably about to be shot to hell because this company is in debt.

[00:12:13]This, you know, these wrestlers is is making millions of dollars, which is nothing wrong with that. It's really not. But if you're not drawing any money, why are you getting millions of dollars? And that's how they're looking at it. So, let's start to cut these contracts down. You know, you have talent and and and I have said it. You know, Damian Priest once upon a time is at top of the mountain. Look at him.

[00:12:36]He's relegated to a tag team. Jay Uso once upon a time on top of the mountain.

[00:12:41]Look at him relegated back to to being behind Roman and being with his brother.

[00:12:46]Gunter once upon a time top of the mountain. Look at him. He don't know what he's doing. Gunther don't know. He It's no vision for him. We don't know what he's doing. And that's how quickly things change in this company. If you're not that big three, whatever you're doing, it really don't matter to them.

[00:13:06]It just don't like your stories, your nothing don't matter if you are not those three people.

[00:13:14]And that's how it is. Like when when corporations take over, you really don't become a person, you become a number.

[00:13:22]And a lot of these wrestlers are numbers. Now, what is this person doing?

[00:13:30]So, yeah, you guys, per usual, y'all know I did not watch Raw. I don't care what happened on there. I told y'all by the time I come back to Raw or Smackdown, maybe people will be in their positions. You know, I don't have the patience to sit with week to week and watch the stuff that's happening.

[00:13:51]And then on top of that, I wanted to mention this really quickly before I get out of here.

[00:13:57]Look at the Creed brothers.

[00:13:59]They will be released by next year. If they don't do something quick, they'll be out of here because it's the goofiness that I'm telling y'all about. Now they wearing the same stuff that Loot with Kaiser and all like, bro, y'all take one thing and then y'all run with it and give it to other people if they don't have nothing to do. just recycled nonsense that I don't This is why I said I'm not watching this [ __ ] week to week. It's goofy. It's silly. You know, you got wrestlers uh being okay with with taking pay cuts all to be in this company, you know, and do BS at the same time.

[00:14:38]So, yeah. I look, it's just not something that I'm interested in. by the time I pick this back up, like I said, hopefully all of the new people will be where they need to be and we can get this ball rolling.

[00:14:52]Um, Dynamite is tomorrow. I promise you guys, I will have the review up. I watch it, I just don't review it. Like, I'm get I'm trying to get better. I'm normally used to watching Raw and Smackdown and then, you know, posting my review. But with AW, I'm just kind of kicking back, enjoying the show, and then once it go off, I go on the other stuff. So, I I I will try to get better at, okay, don't forget to post your review, do your review. So, I will do that for you guys on um tomorrow. And you guys have to be patient with me too because I am trying to get accustomed to how AW is doing things so you know I can be you know on point with these storylines with these characters what's going on because I don't want to say anything and then it's too preconceived like well you know what about this and what about that. So, I'm trying too to learn the story lines, what's going on, kind of catching myself up so when I do talk to you guys, it just don't sound like I'm just all over the place. So, all right you guys. Um, I hope you enjoyed this video. Y'all know my Instagram, Chrissy Talks Wrestling. If you guys want to send me anything or, you know, talk to me about a hot topic, my DM is always open. And like, comment, and subscribe. And I will check you guys later. Chrissy says it so you don't have to.