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As I wrote about yesterday on PWInsider.com, there was a talent meeting last week at the Performance Center with the NXT roster regarding several matters, including whether the talents would be receiving bonuses for the larger live gates the WWE NXT brand, such as the Takeover show in Brooklyn and the forthcoming December UK tour, which has a very healthy advance.
During the meeting, the roster was told that as things currently stand, they would not be receiving bonuses and would continue to be paid based on their NXT contracts. I have some updates on the breakdown of how NXT works and why those changes, thus far, have not yet been implemented (and might never be implemented):
Over the course of the last several days as I researched the story, I learned and confirmed that over the course of this past summer, WWE upgraded a number of top NXT talents so that they are now making six figure downsides. So, at least the upper-tier of the NXT roster are already making a salary commensurate with their worth to the brand.
I had previously noted that WWE staffers informed NXT talents that the brand is run at a loss for the long-term growth of WWE. I've had a few readers ask me how that can be since WWE already owns and has built the WWE Performance Center. The situation isn't as easy or cut and dried as "They now own a building." While I already noted a few of the expenditures in my original article, it should be pointed out as well that via the Performance Center, WWE is also providing state of art fitness and nutritional experts to the developmental roster as well as a medical staff, professional and financial development help as well as things like language courses (should talents want to better themselves and the company by learning a foreign language) and tuition reimbursement for talents also trying to continue or finish their education. So, it's not just WWE running a wrestling school. They are paying talents to not just train as WWE performers but also helping assist them as they set up their futures beyond whatever their WWE career will be. It's part of the company trying to change the way the business works and well, none of that is cheap.
As I previously noted, current NXT talents receive percentages of merchandise including t-shirts, videogames, and action figures when they are used by the company's licensees. While they do not receive a percentage of the NXT live event gates, it does stand to reason that if they are working in front of bigger crowds, they have the chance to make more money via higher merchandise sales and the royalties that come with it.
I also wrote that when NXT talents are on the road, WWE covers the cost of their flight, hotel, rental car and food. I did not specify that when they work main roster shows, they DO get bonused for working those events, just as the main roster talents would.
As I noted a few days ago, while the company may have to cross the bridge when it comes to how talents are treated and paid in NXT vs. the main roster, it should also be pointed out that in some cases, they have already begun to implement alternatives (such as re-working the top-tier talents' contracts).
Still, since WWE has never had a successful third brand before (and certainly never one with all the additional services the company is providing to talent), this all remains uncharted territory.
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