Update on WWE offering Thunder Rosa a referee job | Exclusive
An update is available regarding the story that WWE offered Thunder Rosa a deal to work as a referee.
Rosa appeared on Real 92.3 LA earlier this week and said that WWE had offered her $60,000 a year to work as a referee, but it would have also meant that she had to retire from her wrestling career.
Bryan Alvarez addressed the story on Wednesday’s edition of Wrestling Observer Live, saying:
“I did hear from some people that wanted me to clarify some things because there’s also been a lot of misinformation. So, essentially, the gist of the story is true. They offered her a tryout to be a referee. And she would have been paid $60,000 if she had passed the tryout.”
He continued:
“This is not something that happened recently. This was something that happened in 2019. Apparently, there have been stories about WWE trying to tamper with contracts and they’re trying to take this great AEW wrestler and make her a referee, and this and that. This was an offer from 2019.“
“The offer was for $60,000 a year, and she would have been starting in NXT.”
Alvarez also noted that WWE covers travel expenses for NXT talent when shows take place outside of the Performance Center.
Alvarez continued:
“In 2019, if you started as a wrestler in NXT, you were making $70,000. That was the beginning offer for a wrestler in NXT in 2019. They were offering her $60,000 to be a referee in NXT.“
“So when you’re making $70,000 in NXT, you’re just making $70,000. It’s not like the main roster where you have to pay for your own hotel and transportation.“
“So $60,000 for a refereeing job in NXT is not as bad as it sounds on the surface.”
“She did agree to do the tryout, but it was 2019. And so you can probably all figure out what happened. The pandemic hit and the tryouts were, first it was weather and then it was COVID. And so essentially she never even made it to the tryout.”
The full episode of Wrestling Observer Live is available below:
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.