If Mayweather gets this much from WWE, what's John Cena making?

Mizzou, this isn't all true.

WWE takes care of its big stars. They get a cut of PPV, a cut of merch sales, videos, books, etc. Cena is likely pulling in between $3-$5 mil a year. Vince does lock up a great majority of their rights, however, so if a producer wanted to use Cena for a movie, he has to pay Vince.

The biggest way these guys get screwed is their work schedules. Many of them actually get paid very well. Like Hollywood stars? No, but they make a very good living.

And by the way, Mayweather is not getting a $20 million payday regardless of what they say.

 

And Vince gets an executive producer credit (at least he's supposed to in Cena's upcoming movie; not sure about The Condemned or The Marine).

If they wanted to make some real bank? Have something happen to the Big Show to knock him out of the match. Have his replacement be ... Oscar de la Hoya. Get him in, in exchange for a cut of the Mayweather-DLH gross (if they don't already have a similar deal with Mayweather). They work stiff, get out of control, and the Mayweather-DLH rematch is epic win.

 

And all the steroids he can handle.

 

McMahon has always been willing to spend like crazy on Wrestlemanias and even at the start they were bringing entertainers and athletes from other sports into the ring.

Wrestlemania II was probably the height of my interest in pro wrestling, when they had a bunch of players from the NFL (Bill Fralic, Jimbo Covert, Refrigerator Perry, Russ Francis, Ernie Holmes and Harvey Martin) in a Battle Royal and Mr. T in a boxing match with Roddy Piper. I find it unwatchable now, but I loved that stuff back then.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrestlemania_II

 

I remember somebody on the old pro wrestling thread found a listing for WWE salaries. If I remember right, Cena made around $1.7 million or so.

Traditionally, the WWE pays for flights, but wrestlers have to pay for their hotel rooms, food, and car rentals. This is why a lot of wrestlers travel together and split rooms. Some of the top stars have different things in their contracts, like first-class plane seats, and some might even have hotels paid for.

I remember reading a Mick Foley story in which people would offer to buy him drinks in a restaurant, and he would ask them to pay for his soup instead.