The rumored 75% WWE pay cut for Kofi Kingston and Austin Creed apparently wasn’t quite that brutal. It was still more than half of their pay, but the latest word puts the actual number just slightly above a 50% pay cut.
While speaking on Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez addressed Conrad Thompson’s recent claim that WWE wanted the future New Level members to take a 75% pay cut. Alvarez said that number isn’t accurate based on what he was told by people who know Kingston and Creed.
“There was a story that The New Level were told to take a 75% pay cut. That is not the number. I was told by people who know these guys that it was just over 50%.”
Alvarez then got specific. According to him, WWE wanted Kingston and Creed to take the exact same percentage cut that Ridge Holland recently said he was offered: 56%.
“Ridge Holland just happened to come out and announce his requested pay cut was 56%, and that is exactly what The New Level was asked to take—56%, just over 50%.”
That actually fits with what Kingston himself has already confirmed. When Kingston spoke with Ariel Helwani about his WWE departure, he wouldn’t reveal the exact number. He did, however, make it clear that the widely reported 50% figure wasn’t high enough.
“I don’t know what’s out there, but yeah, I will say it was more than 50%! A lot of people don’t know it was more.”
The story took another turn when Thompson said on Grilling JR that he had heard the real number was 75%. That number naturally made Kingston and Creed’s decision to walk away from WWE look even more understandable.
Alvarez is now saying it wasn’t 75%, but 56% is hardly a small reduction either. Kingston has already explained that he and Creed didn’t believe WWE’s proposed terms reflected what they still brought to the table.
“We just thought that the terms that they wanted us to perform under were not fair based on what we brought to the table, based on what we’re worth, based on the knowledge and prowess that we have as performers, as wrestlers, what we can give back to younger people, what we do from a point of entertainment.”
Money wasn’t the entire reason they left either. Kingston said they also wanted to actually wrestle instead of sitting around waiting for something to do.
“Compensation was definitely a big part, but more so, we wanted to work. We wanted to go out there and showcase our skills and showcase our talents. We wanted to do what we love.”
Kingston and Creed ultimately turned down WWE’s offer and resurfaced in AEW as New Level. The 75% story may have made their WWE offer sound even crazier than it actually was, but being asked to give up a reported 56% of their pay still goes a long way toward explaining why they decided it was time to leave.
Would you have walked away from WWE too if the offer meant taking a 56% pay cut? Let us know in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
