CM Punk Reveals WWE Contract Payout Structure, Explains 'Good and Bad' of Changes

As the professional wrestling business has grown exponentially over the past decade, the way that in-ring performers are being paid has changed in ways that WWE superstar CM Punk argues have both positive and negative effects.

Appearing on the Mostly Spors with Mark Titus and Brandon Walker show (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), CM Punk explained the "good and bad" elements related to the way WWE contracts work now compared to when he originally signed with the company back in 2005:

"The thing with the title too is also—it meant you made more money. That does not exist anymore. It's good and bad. Like, we all make more money now, which is thumbs up. But my paycheck was always predicated on how many people were in the building. So I was driven towards ticket sales and the business of it. And when you're in the main events, you got paid more money."

As Punk noted, there used to be a structure involved where the higher up you were on the card, the more money you would be making since gates were largely predicated on who was in the main event.

One of the reasons often cited for why John Cena didn't turn heel in the late-2000s period when a segment of the WWE audience was loudly booing him is because of the negative impact it could have on business given what he was doing outside of the ring.

Now, there isn't necessarily as much of a concern about that both because WWE doesn't really try to keep up appearances with its stars outside of its television shows. The promotion just had a docuseries on Netflix earlier this year showing fans how the sausage gets made.

Ticket sales, while still a big factor for all wrestling promotions, aren't as important for WWE as they once were because the company makes more than $800 million annually in television deals between Raw, SmackDown and NXT. That doesn't even include the recent broadcast deal with ESPN for PLEs that pays WWE $325 million annually.

On top of that, there is incentive for WWE to pay wrestlers more guaranteed money because there is increased competition around the world with promotions like AEW, TNA, New Japan and CMLL.

All of this is good news for the superstars in the ring to be able to secure more money for their talents.