WWE informed employees over the past week or so that that there would be no promotions or raises upcoming in the near future, according to several reports.
Fight Select says that the new edict applies to employees and staff in several different departments, but not wrestlers. But Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio that wrestlers and other talent haven’t been getting raises or big contract offers in the past few months, with a few exceptions.
Employees had been expecting raises and bonuses, and those will now not happen for the foreseeable future.
Several employees are reportedly understandably upset about the new edict, especially with WWE just reporting record profits earlier this month and with the announcement of WWE’s big Peacock deal last month.
WrestleVotes said, “The unhappiness and straight up anger backstage is at an all time high level. Everyone from the boys to the road crew are pissed off.”
Despite WWE’s record profits, their stock price has been gradually going down for the past couple of years (from a peak of around $96 in September 2018) and has gone down from around $56 to $46 since the release of their earnings report earlier this month. “Wall Street wants more and more profits,” Dave Meltzer said, and WWE’s workers are now taking a beating for it.
There’s no word on how long the new edict will last.