WWE has historically been the only promotion to consistently provide great money for wrestlers over the past few decades. The rise of WCW saw Ted Turner open his check book to offer top dollar for all free agents on the market, but that only lasted for a few years before their poor decisions put them out of business. Once the Monday Night Wars ended, WWE was the only realistic option to easily make a great living until recent years. TNA and ROH provided opportunities, but only the top stars made good money which was still significantly below what WWE paid most of their roster.
There have been enough stories of wrestlers thriving after WWE to discuss how they all did it. We will take a historic look at life after WWE for certain wrestlers to find the magic touch. Many of these wrestlers cashed in a golden time in wrestling. Others hustled on the independent circuit to work their way into making great money. A few even found success outside of the wrestling business. All these wrestlers have seen their wealth improve since departing from the biggest wrestling promotion. Here are fifteen former WWE stars that got rich after leaving WWE.
15 Rey Mysterio
The legendary career of Rey Mysterio is on its last legs as he appears to be making a victory lap. Mysterio has one more good run left in him and he is making it count. Following his release from WWE, things have looked up for him. Mysterio dealt with a lot of injuries towards the end of his WWE run. He wanted to leave to get time to heal his body and work a lighter schedule.
Rey had a tremendous run in Lucha Underground and other independent promotions. The body of work Mysterio proved he was still a great worker now that he had time to get healthy. Classic matches against Will Ospreay and Ricochet made fans remember just how incredible of a performer Mysterio can be.
It was great for Rey to leave WWE for a few years both personally and professionally.
The booking price of Mysterio was reportedly very expensive. This was a great financial success for Mysterio to make a lot of money during his time outside of WWE.
Now that he is once again a top name on the free agent market, WWE brought him back for the Royal Rumble and Greatest Royal Rumble each for big pay days.
Mysterio found big money outside of WWE and will likely make a lot of money returning.
14 Diamond Dallas Page
The WCW career of Diamond Dallas Page was a huge success story. Following a late start in the wrestling business, Page became a fan favorite in his 40s. WCW mostly push established names from the 90s during the Monday Night Wars, but DDP was so popular that they moved him into the upper level. Most WCW stars gave low effort. That made it even more impressive that Page often had great matches with a variety of opponents.
WWE used DDP poorly as a lower card act despite being the biggest star to first come over following the buyout. Page was buried in a feud against The Undertaker and never rebounded from it. Following his release, DDP wrestled for a few more years before going all in on his next project.
DDP Yoga was the business path he leaned into thanks to his ex-wife teaching him about the help from this form of workout. The exercise program turned into a smash hit after a few high-profile people benefited from it.
Scott Hall and Jake Roberts had personal demons for years that ruined their lives. DDP teaching them the DDP lifestyle turned their lives around. It led to many fans and non-fans trying the program. DDP Yoga is a booming business that has Page wealthy outside of wrestling.
13 The Rock
One of the greatest success stories in wrestling featured the amazing run of The Rock in both WWE and the entertainment industry. Rock showed potential from day one as a tremendously charismatic wrestler with athletic ability. WWE pushed him to the moon and he main evented WrestleMania within his first three years in the company. The duo of Rock and Steve Austin led WWE to their greatest success in company history.
Rock’s skillsets allowed him to get a few roles in movies. It led to momentum gaining traction for him to become a name the public wanted to see in more films. Rock left the business to have a full-time acting career. It was a very difficult start for him with most of his lead roles being secondary movies that did poorly in the box office.
Things changed drastically for The Rock when he landed a role in the Fast and Furious franchise. The rest is history with every movie following this leading to success. Rock has been the highest paid actor over the past few years thanks to his star roles. He is now one of the biggest stars in the world and an extremely wealthy man.
Expect Rock to continue making the big bucks with more starring roles coming his way.
12 Eva Marie
WWE had high hopes for Eva Marie when signing her to a main roster contract a few years ago. Most wrestlers had to start in developmental with the rise of NXT and the Performance Center. Eva skipped it and was instantly traveling with the main roster thanks to Vince McMahon wanting her on the first season of Total Divas. There was hope she’d become a crossover star for the company.
Eva struggled to learn the in-ring aspect of wrestling due to having to learn on the fly. The struggles of her progression led to her career going downhill. WWE eventually sent her to the Performance Center and gave her a stint in NXT. Eva developed some momentum as a heel persona, but she ruined it when getting a push on the main roster. WWE froze her out after she violated the Wellness Policy.
Following her release, Eva is moving forward with her goals to become a star actress. The Rock’s production company Seven Bucks Production signed her to a great contract due to believing in her potential. Eva had a role in the 2017 film Inconceivable starring Nicolas Cage. Given the momentum of The Rock, she will likely land more roles to earn her impressive salary.
11 Mark Jindrak
Mark Jindrak showed a lot potential early in his career. The end of WCW saw the company finally give the younger wrestlers in the company a chance. Their Power Plant training program featured quite a few interesting prospects. Jindrak was one of the most talented young wrestlers and received a huge push as a member of the Natural Born Thrillers. He faced off against the likes of Kevin Nash and Diamond Dallas Page to get relevant experience.
Things changed when WWE purchased WCW and placed him in developmental shortly after the buyout. Jindrak had a few opportunities in WWE in the lower card. His best chance was joining Kurt Angle’s faction when Angle was the SmackDown General Manager. Jindrak ended up getting released when the company no longer believed in him.
Life after WWE saw Jindrak find success when wrestling in Mexico. CMLL saw Jindrak become a huge star for them under the name of Marco Corleone. An acting career started for Jindrak as well with a role on a Mexican telenovela.
The success of Jindrak is a great story of someone continuing their career after WWE and succeeding in a major way. It has been a financially great move for Jindrak to leave WWE.
10 John Morrison
John Morrison is one of the most talented WWE superstars to never become a legitimate main eventer for the company. The potential of Morrison was there from day one in his MNM tag team with Joey Mercury and Melina. A split saw him become a great Intercontinental Champion and an impressive heel in the mid-card picture. His best run came in his final few years when he received a few more opportunities.
Morrison did well in upper level matches with the likes of The Miz, John Cena and Sheamus. However, management never felt he was worth pushing as a World Champion moving forward. It led to Morrison leaving the company with the hopes of finding success on his own. Morrison has continued to make a great living in wrestling as the face of Lucha Underground along with work in other promotions all over the world.
The most interesting aspect of Morrison’s rise is his journey into acting.
Morrison claimed he put almost everything he saved in WWE to finance his Boone the Bounty Hunter movie. Between this and getting other roles in movies and television shows, Morrison’s bet on himself seems to have paid off.
A recent interview in Morrison’s backyard saw him reveal he bought his own home. Aside from this purchase, he is also planning with an expensive wedding with his wife Taya Valkyrie.
9 Gail Kim
The talent of Gail Kim was squandered in WWE multiple times as she had two runs in the promotion. Kim shockingly won the Women’s Championship on her first night in WWE, but it was just done for the surprise as she lost in a few weeks later and fell down the card. The second run was even worse. Gail returned following an incredible run in TNA that made many believe she was the best women’s wrestler in the world. It once again ended with her struggling to get any television time, which often hurts the pockets of a wrestler.
Kim returned to TNA following her second WWE run to pick up where she left off. With impressive matches against the likes of Awesome Kong, Taryn Terrell and Mia Yim, Gail has proven she can work with anyone of any style. Kim was paid very well for being one of the faces of the TNA brand, and she still works for Impact today in a backstage role following retirement.
Reports indicated Gail made a lot more money in TNA than in WWE. If you factor her marriage to celebrity chef Robert Irvine, things are definitely going well for her and her family.
This is a tale of one wrestler not having to be a prisoner to WWE as Kim has no interest in ever returning to the company.
8 Zack Sabre Jr.
The Cruiserweight Classic was a unique project for WWE under the helm of Triple H. It was a test to see how the work rate based tournament of international stars would fare on the WWE Network. The shows received huge praise and was a success on the WWE Network. Triple H booked Zack Sabre Jr. for the tournament as one of the biggest names on the shows.
Sabre was an international success with great runs in Progress, Evolve and PWG. The tournament saw Sabre advance to the semi-finals before getting eliminated by Gran Metalik. Sabre was one of the few wrestlers that had no desire to sign a long-term contract with WWE for 205 Live. The contracts were reportedly low offers, but most wrestlers took it due to the dream of working for WWE.
It was a bold move of Sabre to return to the independent circuit and build his name value back up. Sabre saw his career blossom with great runs in the usual promotions. New Japan was impressed enough with his work to bring him in. Sabre received a huge push and recently signed a contract. It allowed him to make enough money to move back to the United Kingdom rather than staying in the United States to continue wrestling full time on the indie circuit. Not signing with WWE was a tremendous move for Sabre’s career.
7 Scott Hall
One of the biggest free agent moves in wrestling history saw Scott Hall jump ship from WWE to WCW during the Monday Night Wars. Hall worked under the Razor Ramon moniker as one of the coolest WWE stars of the New Generation. While he never held the WWE Championship, he was a valuable upper mid-carder that appeared in main event matches occasionally.
Hall’s free agency coincided with Eric Bischoff convincing Ted Turner to continue opening his check book beyond Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. It was one thing to get the older guys sick of WWE, but Hall represented a young talent now entering his prime.
The WCW signing saw him receive the first guaranteed contract in wrestling at the time for huge money. This was a landmark move that changed the course of wrestling for the rest of the decade.
WCW officially started gaining momentum in the Monday Night Wars when Hall debuted on Nitro. His promise for a takeover launched the New World Order. WCW made an absurd amount of money thanks to the nWo success. Hall was arguably the most important member in the early stages considering he was the one to start it all. The money made in WCW was night and day compared to his prior WWE run.
6 AJ Lee
CM Punk’s wife AJ Lee may be an even bigger success story than him. The WWE career of Lee was quite impressive for many reasons. Firstly, she succeeded against all odds as she didn’t have the look WWE typically wanted from women at the time. Lee even revealed that important people in the company insulted her to her face about her looks.
Fans disagreed with WWE’s criticism as AJ gained momentum in the women’s division unlike any of her peers at the time. Lee won the Divas Championship on multiple occasions and was viewed as a respected champion. WWE even made her the first women in about a decade to have her own t-shirt in the merchandise section of the company. Lee saw her great run end in 2015. Considering WWE was at war with her husband in the court room, it made sense she’d ditch the company.
Life after WWE has been great for AJ. She released her autobiography last year and it was a New York Times bestseller.
The reaction was overwhelmingly positive among wrestling fans and people who never even watched WWE. Lee’s book sparked plans for her story to be made into a television series with a pilot in the works. The book has already made AJ a great deal of money, and more is expected to come from it.
5 Kevin Nash
The other half of the Outsiders to make the jump from WWE to WCW in starting the New World Order was Kevin Nash. Both Nash and Scott Hall made the business decision together to leave WWE for a new home. WCW gave them both massive contracts to leave the promotion they were comfortable in. Nash moving to WCW was a bigger move than Hall on paper due to his main event experience.
Under the name of Diesel, Nash was a former WWE Champion and jumped ship less than a year after losing the title. Vince McMahon wanted to build the future of WWE around Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, The Undertaker and Nash as his top four guys. However, he wouldn’t match the ridiculous WCW offered Nash. Not only did Big Sexy sign a big contract in 1996, but he continued to make more money moving forward.
Nash is one of the few men to benefit from the political climate of WCW in the late 90s. It saw him rise to the main event scene and being a fixture in the world title picture for the final three years of WCW’s existence. Nash made millions each year and even found a way to become the booker for a short time, which gave him even more money. The business savvy skills of Nash made him a wealthy man for life after leaving WWE.
4 CM Punk
The legendary run of CM Punk in WWE saw him truly change the game in many ways. Punk was one of the first signings from the independent wrestling stars of the 2000s to break out. Other talents like Paul London and Evan Bourne impressed, but Punk found a way to convince Vince McMahon that he deserved a chance in the main event picture.
While his first few world title reigns didn’t make him a consistent main eventer, Punk hit that plateau when he cut the infamous pipe bomb shoot promo. The reality-based promo saw him become the wrestling world and beyond. WWE decided to have him become a true main event superstar on the level of John Cena for a few years. Things ended poorly when he grew frustrated with the backstage politics and walked out in 2014.
Punk has been doing just fine financially after leaving the wrestling business. Many fans make fun of his lack of success in UFC, but he reportedly made huge money for his fight against Mickey Gall and will make more for his next fight in June. Despite not proving to be a great fighter yet, Punk is a huge draw and UFC paid him as such. His projects in the comic book world also added some decent money to make him even wealthier.
3 Hulk Hogan
One recent less impressive story about someone making huge money after leaving WWE is Hulk Hogan’s journey. WWE brought Hogan back into the company in 2014 following multiple falling outs through the years. Hogan no longer being able to compete in the ring made it a perfect relationship for him to serve as an ambassador given his name value. The use of Hogan at WrestleMania XXX, WrestleMania 31 and as a judge on Tough Enough showed that WWE wanted him back in the family.
This all fell apart when a tape leaked of Hogan making controversial comments. WWE caught wind of it and fired Hogan right before the story broke. Hogan was blacklisted from the company and has yet to make any return since this happened in 2015.
It was well-known that Hogan blew all his money on poor decisions and in a bitter divorce settlement. WWE firing him could have hurt him financially.
He decided to sue Gawker for leaking the tape. Hogan won his lawsuit and was awarded $31 million. While Gawker couldn’t afford to pay the entire figure to Hogan, he is a wealthy man again thanks to the lawsuit.
WWE is now reportedly in talks to bring Hogan back meaning he could make more money from the company after getting rich in his time away.
2 Cody Rhodes
The biggest success story of a wrestler leaving WWE in his prime in recent years would be Cody Rhodes’ ascension. Rhodes was always an interesting prospect in WWE with obvious potential. Some of his best moments like playing a heel character in a feud against Rey Mysterio and playing a face teaming with his brother Goldust to dethrone The Shield showed flashes of brilliance.
WWE however didn’t believe Cody had the tools to thrive in the main event picture. Rhodes struggled to find a mid-card role as Stardust with minimal time. This led to him requesting his release from the company in hopes of proving his worth on the free agent market. WWE had respect for Cody and his family which saw them grant him his release while leaving the door open for a future return.
Rhodes has been a massive success on the independent circuit getting bookings with all major promotions.
A role in the Bullet Club saw him get to the next level as a top draw. ROH business reached new peaks with Cody as the ROH World Champion and New Japan business has improved as well in the United States. Groundbreaking business deals with Hot Topic and Funko have also seen Rhodes make extra money outside of the ring. Cody is now raking in more than he did in WWE and is one of the highest-paid stars in the industry today.
1 Batista
As great as the acting careers of The Rock and John Cena have been in recent years, Batista may be the biggest success story of a crossover star from WWE. Everyone expected Rock and Cena to become movie stars at some point. Vince McMahon even invested in some of their films. Batista was not of the same trajectory as he was just viewed as a main event star that could only thrive in wrestling.
WWE did give him a great opportunity as a fixture in the elite tier of wrestlers for most of his run. Batista made a great living in wrestling but he had the interest of starting another career in acting. WWE shockingly turned down his desire to get roles in the WWE Studio films that typically were low budget flicks. Batista selected to leave the company and try his own luck in acting.
A role in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie as Drax the Destroyer changed his life forever.
The Marvel film was a smash hit with Batista being one of the main reasons why. Batista continued to get roles in major films and is continuing to make bank as Drax. His most recent role in Avengers: Infinity War saw the film have the most successful opening weekend in box office history.
Batista has likely made more money from Marvel than he did with WWE and is a very wealthy man living his dream.