Forbes Releases List Of WWE's 10 Highest Paid Superstars

TheSportster

By Mark Lugris

Published Apr 7, 2018

Forbes compiled a list of earnings for WWE Superstars in 2017 and while it's no surprise who tops the list, the rest of the top 10 is a bit shocking.

Tomorrow, WrestleMania 34 will showcase the biggest starts in the WWE. In honor of the biggest wrestling event of the year, Forbes has released the definitive list of the 10 biggest earners in the sport.

However, not all of the highest paid WWE stars will be in the ring tomorrow. John Cena, the wrestling superstar, who has recently made the transition to Hollywood leading man, will be at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans as a spectator, though some suspect he may stage an unannounced match against the Undertaker.

Cena made $10 million last year, taking the number one spot on the list. Brock Lesnar, who held the number one spot last year, fell to second place with $6.5 million in earnings after returning to the WWE from the UFC, where he failed a drug test and was then suspended.

Roman Reigns with $4.3 million in earnings comes in third place. Tomorrow, Reigns will take on Lesnar in a title fight. Following Lesnar is A.J. Styles with $3.5 million. Styles had a very busy 2017, clocking more appearances than any other wrestler.

Most wrestlers receive a base salary as well as a share of WWE revenues. In addition, they are awarded 25 percent of merchandise licensing fees, 5 percent of direct sale profits and a share of revenues from each event they perform at which can add up to hundreds of thousands in income each year.

Triple H rounds out the top five with $3.2 million. The wrestler, who doubles as Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative for WWE, earned $1.7 million in 2017 from salary, non-equity incentives and vesting company stock in addition to his $1.5 million from his booking contract.

Rounding out the top ten are Randy Orton, who won the 2017 Royal Rumble Match, with $2.9 million; Seth Rollins, who made history in February by wrestling for one hour and five minutes, the longest performance in RAW history, with $2.7 million; the Undertaker, who is still going strong at 53, with $2.5 million; Dean Ambrose, who claimed a Triple Crown and Grand Slam championship last summer after defeating Cesaro and Sheamus with Seth Rollins at SummerSlam, with $2.2 million, and finally Kevin Owens, who held the Universal Champion title until March of 2017, comes in tenth with $2 million.