A former WWE Superstar has praised the company after declining to reduce his salary despite moving him from the main roster back to NXT.
With finances firmly in the forefront of the minds of WWE top brass, it is not unusual for talent who are not being used on the main roster to either be cut from the company entirely or moved back down to the NXT brand. With that move could come the risk of a reduction in salary, but one former SmackDown Superstar was pleasantly surprised to see no change in his pay packet.
WWE Honoured Salary Of SmackDown Star Alexander Wolfe Despite Move To NXT
When SAnitY was disbanded in 2019, Wolfe was moved back down to NXT UK, a decision he revealed to So Catch that he was happy with, with his income not affected:
“I was super excited because that saved my wrestling passion, my career as well because I was not in a good mood.
I was still on a ‘SmackDown’ contract, which was nice. I talked to them like, ‘Put me back on an ‘NXT’ contract’ and they said, ‘Hey, we can’t do that, but the budget isn’t an issue so don’t talk about it’. So it was nice for me.”
Wolfe, alongside Eric Young, and Killian Dain, had made his main roster debut as a member of SAnitY in April 2018 as the group looked to replicate the success they found in NXT on SmackDown. The group left behind Nikki Cross who remained on the black and gold brand as a singles competitor.
Unfortunately for the faction, success was not to materialise on the blue brand despite the group being aligned with Shane McMahon for a spell in early 2019. McMahon had turned his back on former partner The Miz and the two were set to face off at WrestleMania 35 in MetLife Stadium.
Wolfe explained to Sport1 that the appearance was cancelled at the last minute:
“At WrestleMania 35 we would have had a job in the match Shane McMahon vs. The Miz. We had pitched the idea to intervene and catch Miz doing a jump stunt that he had planned. We were already on-site in New York, we were told to come to the stadium for the rehearsals – and on the way there it was said ‘Guys, it won’t work, go home’. That was another real kick in the balls.”
“Shortly afterwards we were informed of the resolution. There are many empty promises made to you at WWE – ‘We have big plans for you, you will be at every show, blablabla.’ That’s how it is, I know the business and I’m not angry about it. But you just have to know that you cannot rely on certain statements, especially not if they come from third parties, not from the boss directly.”
Wolfe was released by WWE in March 2023 and explained his future plans in an exclusive interview with Inside The Ropes.
H/T: WrestlingInc for the ‘So Catch’ transcription