WWE PART 2: THE LIFE OF A WRESTLER

When you think of a WWE Wrestler, what comes to your mind?

Great physique? Fame? Money? Superstar? Now all of those might be true for some but do you know what it takes or what goes behind the scenes?

I'm gonna try to explain what I know about it and I'll start with the goods.

The Perks/Pros:

Let's start with fame, when you are a WWE wrestler or "Superstar" you easily get some fame as WWE is the biggest pro wrestling company in the world, so a lot of eyes are on you. You have a chance to become a fan favorite with fans asking you for photos and autographs and your merch. This is a feeling of euphoria, a type of High. No doubt you will come back or want this feeling forever.

Now what about money? It can vary vastly for a wrestler but money is good when you talk about WWE. The more the fans like (or hate) you and want to see you, most probably the more money you are gonna make. So yeah the money will be good then your average 9 to 5 job.

WWE is like the FAANG (now GAYMANN or whatever else) of pro wrestling, if you have it on your resume you definitely have an advantage for your career, which means more money.

Apart from money, you get visibility if you are a top superstar, you get more opportunities like acting roles or sponsorships etc.

One more thing you get is (for some people) is getting to live your dream. If I could, I would also become a WWE Wrestler, you watch it growing up, liking it and if you get to be a part of it, that's something else.

Aaannd.. I think that's it for the goods, let me know if I left something out.

Now let's come to the Cons or Struggles for it.

The Struggles/Cons:

Work/life balance:

Let's start with the work life balance. In this line of work, you are constantly traveling (as every show happens in a different location), 300+ days in a year. Far from your family/home, for a lot of wrestlers it is a different continent even. You have to do multiple shows in a week, 2 main shows and then you have to do "live shows" which are not even telecasted.

Imagine your job requires you to move from city to city on a weekly/monthly basis, with your work being an intense physical activity. How tired will you get even if you have a desk job?

Net Money earned:

Some things you might not know about them, they are NOT EMPLOYEES, but Independent Contractors. Yes, a WWE Contract/Job is not a full time employment. Wrestlers are treated as in a way freelancers on a contract.

So you get no employee benefits. Even health insurance is restricted to WWE related injuries, so if you get hurt while training, WWE does not cover that.

There are no retirement benefits.

No paid vacations in a sense. As you get a fixed amount for your contract but major money you get is from performing on shows. So if you want more money, you would want to be on every show and especially PLEs (Paid Live Events) which are like major events, more significant than weekly shows.

You don't get reimbursed for shit. You have to pay for your own travel, food, living etc while going from city to city. For most wrestlers anyway. If you get lucky and get pushed and fans love you and you make a lot of money for the company, you might get private tour buses or even a private jet. But that is rare and only for top stars.

The Physique:

To be a likeable wrestler you need two things, great promo skills which means you talk well and great physique so you look good. There are also in ring skills but that are secondary to your ability to make the company money.

So you gotta look good if you want to survive in this tough competitive business. Tell me, how good is your physique? Do you have abs and cuts and whatever else? Or do you have fat or are just skinny but no extraordinary body? Well most probably you wont cut it in Wrestling.

It is rare for a wrestler to not look like a model whether male or female to be in this business. Even those who might not fit into this have the capability of talking on the mic in front of thousands and performing intense physical activity for a long period of time.

This means that training like a madman/woman is your JOB, no junk food and working out daily is REQUIRED.

If you don't look good, you don't get more opportunities.

The Risk:

Even though wrestling is scripted, the action that happens in or out of the ring is real. That means when you see someone get slammed down the mat, or jumping higher than your blood pressure, or going through a table, ladder or chair, It is not magic and they are really going through that with real risk and pain.

That is why injuries are very common in wrestling. And guess what, when you get injured you get paid less as you are doing less shows. Plus whatever comes with an injury. The pain, the rehab, the mental decline. Talking about mental health, imagine this exhausting job and what toll it takes on your brain, with constant pressure to improve, perform, work and whatnot.

Wrestlers have had their careers ended because of injuries like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bret Hart, Edge, Daniel Bryan to name a few.

And it does not have to be a risky action move, a simple move gone wrong can fuck you up for your life.

Owen Hart (RIP) lost his life live on the show when he was making his entrance in the ring, the match not even started, I mean literally reaching to the ring.

Unfortunately there are more examples I can provide but you can find them out yourself.

I'll end with this, What happens if you are not the top 1% of the wrestlers who earn millions and you get fucked up body when you get old and you got to find another job or means to earn money?

From outside it looks like a dream job but what does it cost?

Thanos: Everything