I've reached the point in my life where stories like this are way more interesting than the product itself. Kudos to Stevie for the amazing breakdown. Those expenses HURT!
Check out the wrestler Maven's youtube channel. He does similar breakdowns of how the industry works. Stevie and Maven are my favorite wrestling youtube channels because I like knowing about what goes on behind the scenes and what life was like for a wrestler when he's not in the ring. It would have been cool to hear a breakdown of Macho Man's pay and spending habits analysis like Stevie Richards is doing because apparently Macho Man was an extreme penny pincher and cheapskate who was really good at saving his money. He also wrestled and was on the road during the era when they never had days off. They were on the road 7 days a week back then.. can only imagine how cost stacked up and how good Randy got at handling his travel expenses.
Can we all take a minute to appreciate his set up? From the camera to a quality chart display. Like most wrestler's podcast vid feeds are fucking garbage. This is quality
Yeah. If you watch the first video he did with James from a week or two ago they talked about Stevie’s devotion being a big factor for doing the show. If James has an issue for some reason Stevie can do his own thing without a significant drop off in quality because of the smart board and how much preparation he does.
@@Biscuit-Club I do not think its a TV, I'm pretty sure its a regualr smart board. Not sure how old you are, but as someone born in 2000, they are very common in modern classrooms it seems like he has some version of that. To summerize, its a blackboard computer hybrid.
That life just sounds like hell to me. Staying at the show until the main event has finished and then do a 300 mile drive at midnight when you're sore and tired...
And the multi million dollar company is too cheap to pay expenses that smaller companies do for traveling employees. And no union or anything to protect them during or afterwards
I'd find something else to do. $75k and I have to pay all MY OWN EXPENSES? You can't live in the Tampa area on that money even if you are a single guy you'll live in a studio in a run down apartment and drive a s-box car. What kind of life is that?
It's a downside guarantee. That is money he would make of he wasn't working or if he was hurt. They get more on top of that when they work. For example Hogan and Warrior got 1 million each for their wrestlemania 6 match. Him using the downside only is a little deceiving
@@saintanger77you think someone like Stevie Richards was making anything substantially more than his downside guarantee? Dude was lower mid card his entire WWE career.
@ChristopherTracyparade You make more when you work. He had a nice run with the whole Right to Censor gimmick. Not saying he's a multi millionaire but I think using only the downside guarantee in this video is deceiving. He made more than that.
11:07 "learn from the main eventers", to give the illusion you're in with a chance of becoming one. But most times they bring talent in with a card placement in mind, but still wear them down with their terms. I've always laughed at their definition of what an independent contractor is, as Steve said earlier in the video. Being in the WWE doesn't always sound like the dream destination with videos like this one. Good job Steve was able to save his leftover money well.
I agree but its just a monitor and a fixed camera with some actual editing after. It's just most other podcast setups have just an expensive mic and horrible production lol
Do keep in mind that it was early 2000s, so it's would be around $110k a year now. That's guaranteed money. Then you get other money. Still, unless you get an upper card run or hit the merchandise lottery, it's hard.
My lifelong best friend (over 40 years now) dated and lived with Ronnie Killings for about 6 years. I was around him a good amount of time. He did not make much money and it blew my mind because he was (and is) so damn talented and his physique is ridiculously impressive. To be fair, this was from the years of 2002-2007, when he was working mostly TNA after he was let go from WWE for a while. I saw his paycheck more than once. It was around $800 a week. He told me that he had no health insurance, and at that time, he could not use his stage name because Vince “owned it.” He never minced words about Vince, either. He knew he was never going to get the push he believed he deserved and he felt disrespected and overlooked by Vince and his yes men. Luckily for Ronnie, whilst he was with my BFF, he stayed at her place a lot in Memphis. Then, they got a house together in Nashville. She was working and making very good money. She took care of his son, Trey. She took him to school every day, and she loved that kid like her own. Me and the bestie are overdue for a long phone chat. I’m going to ask her more questions about what she saw about the business over those years. I moved to California during that time (2004) and we didn’t get to spend time together for years.
Stevie Richards is not only the nicest wrestler..but he is probably also the most responsible wrestler of all time. Everyone always points to Foley for those titles..but he was earning considerably more money in his prime than Stevie was in his. It is way easier to thrifty when you already have security.
These chats are such an unbelievably eye-opening experience, I have been watching for 25 years and whilst I’ve always known that undercard and card guys wouldn’t be making as much as the main event, ‘top stars’… I had no idea that things could be this rough! I am so invested in hearing Stevie speak, he is so humble and honest, but incredibly entertaining along with it. I’d love for you to cover how you got together and decided to do this one day. Truly fantastic pairing. 🙌🏼 Keep up the great work. I can’t stop listening to everything you put out! 🙏🏼
so revealing to see these kinds of things, maven did one too, feel like back in the day you would have NEVER gotten to see what wrestlers were paid, even if you had an idea it was always kept secret, amazing that we now know the ins and outs of a wrestlers pay, but man do expenses ever pile up
I remember when Mason and Mansoor were on Maven’s show and they were talking about the “bucket system”. I’d like to see Stevie’s reaction to this and doing a breakdown in real time as they’re explaining it.
@@desertraider8628 As Mason explains it, u have your bucket that contains ur Downside Guarantee and as u do more TV, house shows and/or merch sales; a “payment” of $X determined by their value to decided by a person in management would go into the bucket. Only by filling the bucket all the way to the top u then get the extra money from “overflowing” it.However what management would then do is when it got close to that stage, is then they won’t put them on the HS circuit or some other way to stop them from going over. 🪣
You’re awesome, sir. I so enjoy watching your content, as well as Maven’s channel. You both are honest, earnest, detailed, and you both come off like warm, kind, cool guys. This breakdown is wild! You deserved so much more for the hard work you put in. I am certain we are all thinking that.
Wow! When you consider the physical liability a wrestler puts up with, it really adds up to more costs when one retires in the ring. I didn’t realize a wrestler mostly covers their own expenses only to get a net income of $30K USD just being on the mid-card. You would really have to love the wrestling business for the sake of a lot of sacrifices. This video is very revealing. Thank you, Stevie.
This was the most insightful episode so far. I love hearing stuff like this. Thanks for sharing this info and much respect for doing this lifestyle for so many decades.
to be fair WWE pays people like $75k a year minimum, most making six figures some making millions but its a 5 day, 6 day a week job and even though they moved away from the cartoon era a long time ago, they really don't get a break from their character because fans don't let them. TNA at its peak was still very much a part time gig for most of the roster I am not even sure if they did that many house shows
I love how nerdy Stevie is at breaking all this down. I legit feel smarter after listening to him. 😆 I will say though Stevie, Mazda 3 and Corolla are compact vehicles, not mid sized. But I'm just being a nerd myself there .
Rental car classifications are different. A Corolla is considered a compact car but midsize as a rental car while a mid size car like a Camry would be considered full size when renting.
Holy shit - so ryback was right ( what steve richards is showing is one of the reasons he left).....after taxes and paying for your own expenses you not left with much! what kind of life is this!
The pettiness of pumping the flights up to 300 miles and refusing to fly you if you're TWO WHOLE MILES SHORT makes me appreciate the current talent that much more. (300 Miles is a hair longer than Chicago to Detroit.)
I like this deeper dive compared to Maven’s similar video. I made much less on paper in the early 2000s but ALL of my expenses are paid for - flights, car, gas, food, everything. Certainly when you factor in the physical toll wrestlers had, I was coming out ahead even then.
I know it's just a downside guarantee, but no WWE Superstar deserves to make $1440/week for the shit you put yourselves through. Especially you Stevie. You're better than that by a long shot.
Let’s be real they choose that life tbh I think it’s obvious for them that they will never be a main carder or above average mid carder, so they know what they are getting themselves into I guess for them it’s for the love of wrestling that’s the only main reason I see them putting themselves through that
Imagine being a jobber in the territories. What do you think The Brooklyn Brawler made in the 80s? Or the guys below him in WCCW? That's really paying your dues. $10,000/year basically on couches & in backseats of cars washing in YMCAs
This is incredible to see. It shows how dedicated you need to be to the profession to be a Pro Wrestler. Bare in mind these guys are away from home 90% of the time and beating their bodies up. Fascinating Stevie.
Travel wise, there was a story shared about Mick Foley years back. Where he rode in the back of one of the semi-trailers to get to the next show, and it was freezing cold outside and he was surrounded by nothing but the cold steel parts, most likely to ring, inside the trailer. If that isn't frugal, I don't know what is...
Awesome video chaps! You should do this with a non wwe independent wrestler who works full time and perhaps a main eventer that was on a higher pay scale?
The smartest Attitude Era wrestler was probably The Godfather. He was getting paid for two jobs at once. The jobs weren’t easy, but they sure were fun.
But it's not really a joke. He did go back a few times to earn more money bouncing at a strip club than it was to wrestle. I wonder why no one puts him in the lists of Wrestlers with real jobs that went into their character. Hey Taker. I don't think your all dead. Let one of my women tak....... (Undertaker flies across the ring before he broke character.)
I woulda been a lot more appreciative of my AT&T job back then if I knew I was makin just 200 or so less than a popular wrestler on tv. Popular is subjective to me he was. Me n my bro loved Stevie
He was getting paid a bit above what a normal job here would pay. So its about working conditions, fame, and how well you can leverage your career later on in life.
He’s right about to upgrade on the rental. Me and my buddy took a trip to Michigan. We took the mystery car which was supposed to be an economy car. They gave us a big a** Ford Fiesta F-150. We were like f**k yeah! Problem is instead of spending $40 round trip for gas we spent around $110 😂 oh well we had fun
I remember Maven saying that you could take all travelling expenses off as write-offs from your taxes. If that is true, the travelling expenses are not as much of a burden.
Salute Stevie, bruh... imagine how hard it was for them. 80s wrestlers, smh. Just really recently got better. I always respected pro wrestlers grind. My cousin in the NFL I always tell him these wrestling traveling stories.
He says in 2008 there wasn't any TurboTax online or anything like that but I was a tax preparer in 2009 and I can tell you that there was very much a very strong online presence with taxes. He just from whatever reason couldn't find it. I was trying to educate many people about it back then
Not really 75k guaranteed back in these days alone could get you a decent living and then you take into account Ppv bonuses, merchandise and video game royalties and as a lower midcard guy you could live pretty well. Nowadays it's much easier though because salaries have increased even more even compared to the rising costs today. Look up Mace and Mansoor talking about their pay and they were pretty much jobbers.
All this is true but at the end of the Day if you’re famous why not be remembered as one of the great ones instead of a jobber always losing matches and never done anything big in the world of wrestling,then again this is my ego speaking I respect everybody’s decision in life
@@baseupp12 All this is true but at the end of the Day if you’re famous why not be remembered as one of the great ones instead of a jobber always losing matches and never done anything big in the world of wrestling,then again this is my ego speaking I respect everybody’s decision in life
@@elvalvinoskyo3307 Are you willing to kiss that much ass to be one of the greats? You think Triple H has that many title reigns and wrestlemania main events without marrying Steph?
75k$ a year with those expenses/lifestyle demands are brutal. Who cares if you’re “famous” if you’re essentially bringing home 500$ a week before taxes?
@Lobothemainman23 These guys are play wrestling i.e fake fighting. I'd actually be concerned if they were getting hurt fake fighting as at that point the government should be getting involved and banning the entire concept of "wrestling".
@@Lobothemainman23 Playing pretend fighting is hardly punishing the body. Most of their bodies are messed up due to drugs and steroids rather than the wrestling itself
I remember the first Taboo Tuesday in 2004. My friends and I all agreed we would vote for Stevie Richards to be Chris Jericho's opponent for the intercontinental title. We all recognized his talent and always hoped he'd get the push he deserved which, alas, never came.
It would make sense that the royalties would line up with the company quarter, because it's basically impossible to pay a percentage of a number that you're legally required to keep secret until the conference call.
First time I've heard any wrestler (or person in the industry) mention the multi-state tax thing. That's absolutely insane. Then again, I guess back in the territory days, a lot of wrestlers didn't file in many of those places.
A friend in the car rental business told me whenever I rent a car to reserve a sub compact car, they never have any available so you get upgraded and drive away in a Caddy etc for the low price lol
I did not think about it until you mentioned driving is tiring and yes super correct but for you guys and gals i would imagine it sucked super bad considering you was probably bruised and basically recovering on the road for a few hours a day but it was not even recovery as you wrestled so much!
I am still not totally sure about the difference between the pay sheets and the weekly pay. I get Stevie took a weekly and that was based on his downside, as he showed here. But if you took pay sheets, how does that differ, and how and when do you get paid?
Maven talks about this on his channel. Downside Guarantee is the amount you get no matter you get if your used or not. Paysheets is based off your position on the card and ticket sales. Paysheets is great if your a main eventer or in a great storyline. The downside of paysheets is if your not used or injured you don't get paid. I can see why Stevie did the downside guarantee. At times he was used and then not used. His biggest WWE run was with Right to Censor.
A lot of people saying how bad this is! We have to understand this is normal business just because it’s wrestling this is the career and path they choose as wrestlers! I remember the Old school guys in the 80’s having it much worse! If you want top money you have to become a top player! It’s that simple!
I think it's ridiculous that WWE still considers their wrestlers(employees) as "independent contractors" but wont allow them to go do other things to make money while they are under contract with the WWE. Its like the WWE views wrestlers as seasonal workers but doesn't allow them to have another side job to bring in more cash. They also don't get health insurance under the "independent contractor" title.. I also can't believe wrestlers haven't unionized. If you think about it, the WWE needs them more than the wrestlers need WWE. Imo the wrestlers have the power, because without them WWE has no show or product.
Exclusive content available on Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/stevierichards
I've reached the point in my life where stories like this are way more interesting than the product itself. Kudos to Stevie for the amazing breakdown. Those expenses HURT!
Dude exactly!! These are way more entertaining than today's actual "pro wrestling"
Check out the wrestler Maven's youtube channel. He does similar breakdowns of how the industry works. Stevie and Maven are my favorite wrestling youtube channels because I like knowing about what goes on behind the scenes and what life was like for a wrestler when he's not in the ring. It would have been cool to hear a breakdown of Macho Man's pay and spending habits analysis like Stevie Richards is doing because apparently Macho Man was an extreme penny pincher and cheapskate who was really good at saving his money. He also wrestled and was on the road during the era when they never had days off. They were on the road 7 days a week back then.. can only imagine how cost stacked up and how good Randy got at handling his travel expenses.
Facts . We’ve watched wrestling all our lives that now, we are interested in the behind the scenes aspect
Truth!
Agreed!
Can we all take a minute to appreciate his set up? From the camera to a quality chart display.
Like most wrestler's podcast vid feeds are fucking garbage.
This is quality
Yeah. If you watch the first video he did with James from a week or two ago they talked about Stevie’s devotion being a big factor for doing the show. If James has an issue for some reason Stevie can do his own thing without a significant drop off in quality because of the smart board and how much preparation he does.
What TV has he got there?
@@Biscuit-Club I do not think its a TV, I'm pretty sure its a regualr smart board. Not sure how old you are, but as someone born in 2000, they are very common in modern classrooms it seems like he has some version of that. To summerize, its a blackboard computer hybrid.
@@denistuohy2535 I'm 44
I mean hey, he used to be an IT guy! lol
That life just sounds like hell to me. Staying at the show until the main event has finished and then do a 300 mile drive at midnight when you're sore and tired...
I get the feeling it's a labor of love for the vast majority of people, even in the WWE.
That's why the only people who are in the business are those who truly love it.
Cus he was in the lower card/jobber. Obviously it’s worth it for the bigger stars. Plus nowadays they get paid way way more
And the multi million dollar company is too cheap to pay expenses that smaller companies do for traveling employees. And no union or anything to protect them during or afterwards
@@jarlwhiterun7478 it’s a bussiness not a charity
Cornette would be impressed to see how you tracked your expenses lol
He probably wouldn't care.
@@DavidJohns-e5b he'd probably give him credit for not being an idiot tbf Jim usually appreciates people not being stupid
75k?!!? It's funny how people assume anyone on TV every week is rich and famous.
He was jobber
Fake it till you make it
Sounds pretty gruelling
Downside guarantee putz
I'd find something else to do. $75k and I have to pay all MY OWN EXPENSES? You can't live in the Tampa area on that money even if you are a single guy you'll live in a studio in a run down apartment and drive a s-box car. What kind of life is that?
That’s a poverty wage if you have to pay your own expenses. Yeesh
Yeah that's ridiculous they should be covering travel as they are the ones booking events
This is why they aren't individual contractors
It's a downside guarantee. That is money he would make of he wasn't working or if he was hurt. They get more on top of that when they work. For example Hogan and Warrior got 1 million each for their wrestlemania 6 match. Him using the downside only is a little deceiving
Then dont choose to be a wrestler? Nobody's making them do this.
@@saintanger77you think someone like Stevie Richards was making anything substantially more than his downside guarantee? Dude was lower mid card his entire WWE career.
@ChristopherTracyparade You make more when you work. He had a nice run with the whole Right to Censor gimmick. Not saying he's a multi millionaire but I think using only the downside guarantee in this video is deceiving. He made more than that.
Much as I enjoyed Mavens how much I actually made which I found very insightful. You go and create a power point!
11:07 "learn from the main eventers", to give the illusion you're in with a chance of becoming one. But most times they bring talent in with a card placement in mind, but still wear them down with their terms. I've always laughed at their definition of what an independent contractor is, as Steve said earlier in the video.
Being in the WWE doesn't always sound like the dream destination with videos like this one. Good job Steve was able to save his leftover money well.
This channel is so professional looking it's like watching a analysis from sky sports just more interesting
I agree but its just a monitor and a fixed camera with some actual editing after. It's just most other podcast setups have just an expensive mic and horrible production lol
75K per year after being in the largest pro-wrestling org for almost 10 years. Damn. After all the expenses, that's barely a living.
Do keep in mind that it was early 2000s, so it's would be around $110k a year now. That's guaranteed money. Then you get other money. Still, unless you get an upper card run or hit the merchandise lottery, it's hard.
are you serious?
They could write off all their expenses if they were smart
He said after weekly expenses he was only taking home a net pay of $570-ish
My lifelong best friend (over 40 years now) dated and lived with Ronnie Killings for about 6 years. I was around him a good amount of time. He did not make much money and it blew my mind because he was (and is) so damn talented and his physique is ridiculously impressive. To be fair, this was from the years of 2002-2007, when he was working mostly TNA after he was let go from WWE for a while.
I saw his paycheck more than once. It was around $800 a week. He told me that he had no health insurance, and at that time, he could not use his stage name because Vince “owned it.” He never minced words about Vince, either. He knew he was never going to get the push he believed he deserved and he felt disrespected and overlooked by Vince and his yes men.
Luckily for Ronnie, whilst he was with my BFF, he stayed at her place a lot in Memphis. Then, they got a house together in Nashville. She was working and making very good money. She took care of his son, Trey. She took him to school every day, and she loved that kid like her own.
Me and the bestie are overdue for a long phone chat. I’m going to ask her more questions about what she saw about the business over those years. I moved to California during that time (2004) and we didn’t get to spend time together for years.
Really liking the content Stevie, keep up the good work. Your channel will grow over time, just like Maven's did.
Stevie Richards is not only the nicest wrestler..but he is probably also the most responsible wrestler of all time. Everyone always points to Foley for those titles..but he was earning considerably more money in his prime than Stevie was in his. It is way easier to thrifty when you already have security.
Foley wasn't earning "way more" for most of his career.
These chats are such an unbelievably eye-opening experience, I have been watching for 25 years and whilst I’ve always known that undercard and card guys wouldn’t be making as much as the main event, ‘top stars’… I had no idea that things could be this rough! I am so invested in hearing Stevie speak, he is so humble and honest, but incredibly entertaining along with it.
I’d love for you to cover how you got together and decided to do this one day. Truly fantastic pairing. 🙌🏼 Keep up the great work. I can’t stop listening to everything you put out! 🙏🏼
I'd love to hear Stevie do a video game episode...he's brought up gaming more than once.
so revealing to see these kinds of things, maven did one too, feel like back in the day you would have NEVER gotten to see what wrestlers were paid, even if you had an idea it was always kept secret, amazing that we now know the ins and outs of a wrestlers pay, but man do expenses ever pile up
I remember when Mason and Mansoor were on Maven’s show and they were talking about the “bucket system”. I’d like to see Stevie’s reaction to this and doing a breakdown in real time as they’re explaining it.
What is the bucket system?
@@desertraider8628 As Mason explains it, u have your bucket that contains ur Downside Guarantee and as u do more TV, house shows and/or merch sales; a “payment” of $X determined by their value to decided by a person in management would go into the bucket. Only by filling the bucket all the way to the top u then get the extra money from “overflowing” it.However what management would then do is when it got close to that stage, is then they won’t put them on the HS circuit or some other way to stop them from going over. 🪣
This is a great new channel you are great stevie! Thanks for all the insight
You’re awesome, sir. I so enjoy watching your content, as well as Maven’s channel. You both are honest, earnest, detailed, and you both come off like warm, kind, cool guys.
This breakdown is wild! You deserved so much more for the hard work you put in. I am certain we are all thinking that.
You gotta be the most humble wrestler I've ever heard on any interview or podcast. You deserve more views bro.
I would love to see a breakdown of Stevie’s pay and expenses while in the Original Ecw and Wcw.
To hell with tax services, I’m hitting up Stevie!!!
As someone who has asked Stevie about Unbooked Catering more than once over the years ('12 & '18), I hope you do do segment on it!!
Thats a clean setup, Stevie, liking the new show!
Wow! When you consider the physical liability a wrestler puts up with, it really adds up to more costs when one retires in the ring. I didn’t realize a wrestler mostly covers their own expenses only to get a net income of $30K USD just being on the mid-card. You would really have to love the wrestling business for the sake of a lot of sacrifices. This video is very revealing. Thank you, Stevie.
I have always heard how preditory the business is, but this is a good breakdown on it and makes me think that these practices should be illegal
This was the most insightful episode so far. I love hearing stuff like this. Thanks for sharing this info and much respect for doing this lifestyle for so many decades.
Man cames from Mave and glad I did.
You rock Stevie.
I hope that Stevie talks about his TNA pay. It was so bad that he had get work outside wrestling.
The schedule allowed that to be fair
to be fair WWE pays people like $75k a year minimum, most making six figures some making millions but its a 5 day, 6 day a week job and even though they moved away from the cartoon era a long time ago, they really don't get a break from their character because fans don't let them. TNA at its peak was still very much a part time gig for most of the roster I am not even sure if they did that many house shows
or ECW
We love you stevie man philly represent i always make u in the wwe video games ❤ i hope ur doing well and im glad ur channel is going great
I love how nerdy Stevie is at breaking all this down. I legit feel smarter after listening to him. 😆
I will say though Stevie, Mazda 3 and Corolla are compact vehicles, not mid sized. But I'm just being a nerd myself there .
Rental car classifications are different. A Corolla is considered a compact car but midsize as a rental car while a mid size car like a Camry would be considered full size when renting.
@@philliesphan334 thanks good to know.
This is so enjoyable to listen to this kind of stuff. Thank you for the content
Holy shit - so ryback was right ( what steve richards is showing is one of the reasons he left).....after taxes and paying for your own expenses you not left with much! what kind of life is this!
Wow, crazy times!! The tax process part is just another added nightmare.
The pettiness of pumping the flights up to 300 miles and refusing to fly you if you're TWO WHOLE MILES SHORT makes me appreciate the current talent that much more.
(300 Miles is a hair longer than Chicago to Detroit.)
You two really work well together. This show is fucking golden. Really insightful.
I like this deeper dive compared to Maven’s similar video. I made much less on paper in the early 2000s but ALL of my expenses are paid for - flights, car, gas, food, everything. Certainly when you factor in the physical toll wrestlers had, I was coming out ahead even then.
Maven walked so Stevie Richards could run. The detail my man goes into is wild.
Stevie wrestled in wcw...he's just taken great care of himself so he looks young
YES
Funny I was just thinking that about mavens show compared to this one. Still like both
I love Stevie but I had to nope out after 5 minutes. Maven makes this stuff WAY more interesting.
Stevie was doing a lot of detailed Tech youtube videos a decade ago. So he's not new to it.
Ive worked a lot with data communication and just want to say: this is incredibly well presented, insightful content. Thank you !
Honestly I think big time promotion should cover the hotel cost and transportation, you guy get taken advantage of.
absolutely. they can get great deals with hotels when booking in "bulk"
They absolutely should. WWE is a billion dollar company. Like come on.
I know it's just a downside guarantee, but no WWE Superstar deserves to make $1440/week for the shit you put yourselves through. Especially you Stevie. You're better than that by a long shot.
That would be like 2,200 dollars a week now.
Let’s be real they choose that life tbh I think it’s obvious for them that they will never be a main carder or above average mid carder, so they know what they are getting themselves into I guess for them it’s for the love of wrestling that’s the only main reason I see them putting themselves through that
$1440 in 2009 dollars
Imagine being a jobber in the territories.
What do you think The Brooklyn Brawler made in the 80s? Or the guys below him in WCCW?
That's really paying your dues. $10,000/year basically on couches & in backseats of cars washing in YMCAs
@@ModernDayRenaissanceMan excellent point
Love these videos keep em coming learning about the other side if the curtain
Amazing production quality and choice of topics.
It's not how much you make - how much you save.
Lessons in life.
aman
I guess Mike Tyson learned that the hardest way ....
Totally. Look how many millionaires go broke, in sports and music
A bigger lesson in life- You have to have money to save money.
@@19Marksman79 I thought you just need to register at Save With Conrad Dot Comp ???
Loving your channel!
This is incredible to see. It shows how dedicated you need to be to the profession to be a Pro Wrestler. Bare in mind these guys are away from home 90% of the time and beating their bodies up. Fascinating Stevie.
Great content! Love these behind the scenes breakdowns
Love Stevie richards, i was bummed when i seen he collabed with that goofball as the new official channel
Mick Foley's money out must have been like $10 😅
Austin was the same despite making millions.
Both are probably very thankful for that now.
I would love to see foleys graph lol
Travel wise, there was a story shared about Mick Foley years back. Where he rode in the back of one of the semi-trailers to get to the next show, and it was freezing cold outside and he was surrounded by nothing but the cold steel parts, most likely to ring, inside the trailer. If that isn't frugal, I don't know what is...
Awesome video chaps! You should do this with a non wwe independent wrestler who works full time and perhaps a main eventer that was on a higher pay scale?
Met Stevie a few times in Rochester New York..super cool,nice down to earth guy.
Appreciate you doing this video.. Gives me a new respect for the wrestlers.. Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend..
Would love to hear some specifics about nutrition / adrenals if possible, Stevie. Great show.
The smartest Attitude Era wrestler was probably The Godfather. He was getting paid for two jobs at once. The jobs weren’t easy, but they sure were fun.
Pimpin' ain't easy 😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣
It took me a minute... lol
But it's not really a joke. He did go back a few times to earn more money bouncing at a strip club than it was to wrestle.
I wonder why no one puts him in the lists of Wrestlers with real jobs that went into their character.
Hey Taker. I don't think your all dead. Let one of my women tak....... (Undertaker flies across the ring before he broke character.)
I think Stone Cold said all he ate was potatoes and canned tuna. Lol
I woulda been a lot more appreciative of my AT&T job back then if I knew I was makin just 200 or so less than a popular wrestler on tv. Popular is subjective to me he was. Me n my bro loved Stevie
props for explianing this in detail as can be
always wounder about this type of stuff
Dig the new thumbnail. We need a video with you and Maven 😮
Very interesting segment.
He was getting paid a bit above what a normal job here would pay. So its about working conditions, fame, and how well you can leverage your career later on in life.
Being a jobber in WWE sure sucked. This was pretty much the bottom level though, Austin wasn't having any of these problems
Same with maven. Guy made $400k some years. Stevie was a lower card guy.
Cmon man, Austin wasnt a top star the moment he started in wrestling. He was grinding as a jobber/low mid card for YEARS.
Austin has gone into detail about how tight he was with his money. So although he was making millions, he wasn't spending much of it.
huh! the guy was eating raw potatoes for his meals before he hit it big
I mean yes, the guy who makes $3k a week more (which is not Austin) is probably going to splurge his expenses an extra 50%, or $435 more.
He’s right about to upgrade on the rental. Me and my buddy took a trip to Michigan. We took the mystery car which was supposed to be an economy car. They gave us a big a** Ford Fiesta F-150. We were like f**k yeah! Problem is instead of spending $40 round trip for gas we spent around $110 😂 oh well we had fun
Serious discipline, Stevie! Kudos to you.
I remember Maven saying that you could take all travelling expenses off as write-offs from your taxes. If that is true, the travelling expenses are not as much of a burden.
Yeah but write offs are at tax time so it's still a hurdle for most because it still comes out of their money on the spot
Right, but you still have to maintain it during the year
Lol. Of course expenses are a burden. They are 60% of income that are paid as they occur
Salute Stevie, bruh... imagine how hard it was for them. 80s wrestlers, smh. Just really recently got better. I always respected pro wrestlers grind. My cousin in the NFL I always tell him these wrestling traveling stories.
Stevie, great stuff. Gotta talk about growing up in Port Richmond and how you got into the buisness!
Awesome video.
Honestly, I can relate to Stevie so much. Especially the money parts.
Appreciate the breakdown of finance.
He says in 2008 there wasn't any TurboTax online or anything like that but I was a tax preparer in 2009 and I can tell you that there was very much a very strong online presence with taxes. He just from whatever reason couldn't find it. I was trying to educate many people about it back then
This channel is great
Thank you Stevie. I always wondered what the expenses were.
The thumbnail is Perfect 😂
After watching this,to be a pro wrestler you gotta be a top roster guy to live comfortably honestly
Not really 75k guaranteed back in these days alone could get you a decent living and then you take into account Ppv bonuses, merchandise and video game royalties and as a lower midcard guy you could live pretty well.
Nowadays it's much easier though because salaries have increased even more even compared to the rising costs today. Look up Mace and Mansoor talking about their pay and they were pretty much jobbers.
75k salary in the 90s and 00s was bank. 75k today is equivalent to 40k. I’d take bumps and boo boos for 75k in the 90s.
All this is true but at the end of the Day if you’re famous why not be remembered as one of the great ones instead of a jobber always losing matches and never done anything big in the world of wrestling,then again this is my ego speaking I respect everybody’s decision in life
@@baseupp12 All this is true but at the end of the Day if you’re famous why not be remembered as one of the great ones instead of a jobber always losing matches and never done anything big in the world of wrestling,then again this is my ego speaking I respect everybody’s decision in life
@@elvalvinoskyo3307 Are you willing to kiss that much ass to be one of the greats? You think Triple H has that many title reigns and wrestlemania main events without marrying Steph?
That’s a legit chart. We taking mavens idea an expanding it I see.
75k$ a year with those expenses/lifestyle demands are brutal. Who cares if you’re “famous” if you’re essentially bringing home 500$ a week before taxes?
Now imagine most of the population who are on a lower salary than that while working more hours
@@anthonyfaucy2761they are but usually not punishing their body like these guys are.
@Lobothemainman23 These guys are play wrestling i.e fake fighting. I'd actually be concerned if they were getting hurt fake fighting as at that point the government should be getting involved and banning the entire concept of "wrestling".
@@Lobothemainman23 Playing pretend fighting is hardly punishing the body. Most of their bodies are messed up due to drugs and steroids rather than the wrestling itself
The employees that work at the arena have more benefits than the wrestlers.
Great breakdown Stevie
A great guy is Stevie ❤
Im here from maven channel. Good videos bro
i love that hems frugal and practical bout his money! smart
I remember the first Taboo Tuesday in 2004. My friends and I all agreed we would vote for Stevie Richards to be Chris Jericho's opponent for the intercontinental title. We all recognized his talent and always hoped he'd get the push he deserved which, alas, never came.
It would make sense that the royalties would line up with the company quarter, because it's basically impossible to pay a percentage of a number that you're legally required to keep secret until the conference call.
this is i loved the territory days. also this is why super crazy had to quit wwe. expenses was crazy.
First time I've heard any wrestler (or person in the industry) mention the multi-state tax thing. That's absolutely insane. Then again, I guess back in the territory days, a lot of wrestlers didn't file in many of those places.
Excellent presentation
Love these Stevie
I liked the unique perspective of your match/move breakdowns. This format just seems like you're trying to clone the success of Maven
A friend in the car rental business told me whenever I rent a car to reserve a sub compact car, they never have any available so you get upgraded and drive away in a Caddy etc for the low price lol
I did not think about it until you mentioned driving is tiring and yes super correct but for you guys and gals i would imagine it sucked super bad considering you was probably bruised and basically recovering on the road for a few hours a day but it was not even recovery as you wrestled so much!
I am still not totally sure about the difference between the pay sheets and the weekly pay. I get Stevie took a weekly and that was based on his downside, as he showed here. But if you took pay sheets, how does that differ, and how and when do you get paid?
Maven talks about this on his channel. Downside Guarantee is the amount you get no matter you get if your used or not. Paysheets is based off your position on the card and ticket sales. Paysheets is great if your a main eventer or in a great storyline. The downside of paysheets is if your not used or injured you don't get paid. I can see why Stevie did the downside guarantee. At times he was used and then not used. His biggest WWE run was with Right to Censor.
@@hezamachineno got it wrong everyone has a downside guarantee Maven talks about this when he got injured you always get your downside
MarkyD mention! That's gonna make the hawk squawk
A real Hawk Tuah!
@@JustJulyogross
You're a really decent guy.
I always wondered about the job gimmicks. Duke the dumpster and all that. Now it makes sense. Taxes screwing wrestlers too
A lot of people saying how bad this is! We have to understand this is normal business just because it’s wrestling this is the career and path they choose as wrestlers! I remember the Old school guys in the 80’s having it much worse! If you want top money you have to become a top player! It’s that simple!
James, if you could ask Stevie about Chris Masters- and his Masterpiece.
I think it's ridiculous that WWE still considers their wrestlers(employees) as "independent contractors" but wont allow them to go do other things to make money while they are under contract with the WWE. Its like the WWE views wrestlers as seasonal workers but doesn't allow them to have another side job to bring in more cash. They also don't get health insurance under the "independent contractor" title.. I also can't believe wrestlers haven't unionized. If you think about it, the WWE needs them more than the wrestlers need WWE. Imo the wrestlers have the power, because without them WWE has no show or product.
Stevie is just a classy guy and true professional
thanks. i do my best
Stevie really Mavening it up with these new thumbnails.
How did you afford an apt or a personal vehicle? If you only had $582 left over after all WWE expenses, where did you live when not on the road?
Maybe he moved in with his parents
Man thats brutal life style stevie tha you had in WWE.