Before he rose to superstardom in WWE, Sami Zayn had to work his way up the ladder, both professionally and financially.
The Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champion made a recent appearance on Whiskey Ginger to discuss a variety of topics. One of the discussion points included Zayn’s early days in WWE shortly after he joined the company in 2013. Upon taking the leap to WWE, Zayn revealed that his signing salary took a significant dip in comparison to his previous work on the independent circuit.
“When I signed for WWE, I actually took a pay cut because it’s like, okay, you’re signing for WWE, it’s like the opportunity to make money, in a sense. I think my last year on the independents — I’m throwing all these numbers out willy-nilly, but whatever. I think at the time, right after I left the independents, the independents kind of blew up where guys were suddenly making six figures, who are just starting to make good names for themselves. There was a big indie boom right after I left. So, I think my last year on the independents, I made somewhere around $100,000 and I signed my first WWE contract for $39,000”
“It’s developmental now, but then eventually you’ll make good money, which is what happened. So, I wasn’t too nearsighted about it thinking like, ‘Oh, I’m worth so much more.’ You kind of understand when to take it on the chin and when you’ll make it up,” Zayn said.
And luckily, Zayn made up some of the losses relatively quickly. Less than a year after signing on with WWE, Sami Zayn received an opportunity to work some main roster road loops in September and October 2013. Those tours, of course, awarded him with a pretty nifty paycheck.
“Even though I’d already been working for 10 or 11 years, they put you through their developmental program, which is called NXT, and I did very well, very quick. So within about eight months, which is unheard of at the time because they usually take 2 or 3 years before they start sending you to do stuff. So within about eight months, they started sending me on the road to do road loops… And I remember maybe I was making 50 grand a year or something, but then that first check came in for that road loop. And I open it and it was like 6 or 7 grand or something.”
“I had this like light bulb moment, like, ‘Oh my God, that’s right. I’m here to make money.’ Dude, I’m telling you, I know it sounds so cliche, that whole thing about when you enjoy what you do, you never work a day in your life. Money has always been such a — it’s so not why I do this. You know what I mean? Don’t get me wrong [though], I enjoy having it versus not having it as most people [do].”
RELATED: Sami Zayn On His Career: The Whole Thing Is A Privilege, I’m Hungry For More
If you use this transcript, credit WrestleZone and link back to this post.
