Former Champion reveals $71 WWE royalty check: ‘That’s the reality’
Former WWE Intercontinental Champion Marc Mero has revealed his $71.47 royalty check from the promotion.
Known for his professional wrestling stint in WCW and WWE (then known as WWF), Marc Mero was an active part of the Stamford-based wrestling promotion’s roster from 1996 to 1999, where he won the Intercontinental Championship once.
Mero recently uploaded a post on social media, revealing his WWE royalty earnings from 2019 as he revealed the “reality” for the fans and viewers.
“I’ve been asked many times what wrestlers actually make in royalties from the WWE, so let me give you a real example. I left the WWE years ago, and more than 20 years later, in 2019, I came across an old royalty statement. When you look at how much money many wrestlers help generate versus how little they’re actually paid, it’s honestly hard to believe.“
He further wrote and publicly shared the exact monetary figures he earned. While the total amount of revenue generated was $39,590.81, Mero received $71.47 as his share.
“On this statement, even after being out of wrestling for over two decades, I was still partly responsible for $39,590.81 in revenue. My royalty payment for that? $71.47. That’s the reality for a lot of wrestlers. We helped build the brand, the characters, and the moments fans still watch today, yet the compensation rarely reflects the value that was created.“
Mero parted ways with the promotion over two decades ago and wrestled across different promotions before retiring from in-ring action in 2006. Winning titles across both WWE and WCW, Mero was also an amateur boxer and even received the 1991 WON Rookie of the Year.
Shounak Chakrabarti is an experienced sports journalist with a lifelong passion for athletics and storytelling. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Journalism from the University of Leeds and joined F4WOnline in 2025.
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