The Miz took a big pay cut when he signed with WWE’s developmental system.
During a recent appearance on the “Unbreakable” podcast, the “Most Must-See” WWE Superstar commented on making the switch from reality television to WWE, taking a pay cut, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On taking a pay cut from his reality TV work: “I was making a lot of money, I was making six figures. When I got to developmental, I took a pay cut, because I said ‘I can take a pay cut in this because I believe that I can make more.’ So I invested in myself. I’ve always invested in myself … I paid for acting classes, improv classes, and learning the art of professional wrestling, UPW, and wrestling classes. And then I also was like ‘Oh, where do all the big world trainers go? Gold’s Gym.’”
On going all out to get himself over: “I worked out there, got a nutritionist. So I invested all my money I would make into myself. I bought all these t-shirts ahead of time and got them at $3 a t-shirt and sold them for $15 a t-shirt. So I wouldn’t make money off them, but it wasn’t to make money, it was necessary to promote myself and get people talking about me … so WWE would see that. WWE would see that, they gave me a contract, I took a pay cut, went to McDonough, Georgia, went to Louisville, and then from Louisville, I got into WWE and started making the money I thought I could possibly make.”
