WWE once wanted an AEW star to retire from in-ring competition and become a referee.
Appearing on The Cruz Show on REAL 92.3 LA, Thunder Rosa revealed that she was struggling to make ends meet in 2019 when WWE asked her to stop wrestling and join the company as a match official.
“In 2019, (WWE) called me and they were like, ‘Are you ready to hang up the boots?’ I was like, ‘Well, you know, I need money.’ So I was like, ‘I need steady money’ because, brother, being an independent professional wrestler is, when you’re talking about hustle, it’s a hustle,” she said.
“I had a job when I was in the Bay Area, but when I decided to do wrestling full time, I was depending on my ex-husband and my hustle,” stated Rosa. “I was hustling all the time and I was tired. Like hustling after seven years, you’re like, man, I need a job or something.”
Thunder Rosa reveals WWE’s offer to her
She revealed that WWE had offered her around $60,000 a year, which at the time felt like an improvement over what she was earning. However, after a hurricane disrupted plans, her tryout kept getting delayed and ultimately never took place.
“And [WWE] offered me like $60,000 a year, which at the time it was like, ‘All right, it’s better than what I was making.’ There was a hurricane that happened and then they just kept pushing my tryout and then, it never happened.”
Looking back, Thunder Rosa believes it worked out for the best, as it led her to pursue MMA, where she accepted a $3,000 contract. “But it was meant to be that way and that’s when I made the decision to jump into MMA, because they offered me a $3,000 contract,” she said. [H/T F4Wonline.com]
Thunder Rosa returned to wrestling TV last month following a lengthy injury hiatus. She unsuccessfully challenged Thekla for the AEW Women’s World Championship on the March 4 episode of AEW Dynamite.
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