WWE Accused of Reducing Future Pay to Reclaim Bonuses

Matt Hardy is shedding light on a shady practice he claims WWE employed regarding bonuses, suggesting that the company took back extra pay after Jim Ross rewarded the Hardy Boyz for their performances in the late ’90s.

During an episode of The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Hardy shared an interesting story about how JR ensured he and his brother Jeff were properly compensated for their standout matches, particularly when they “stole the show” in early bouts with Edge, Christian, and Gangrel. Hardy recalled that whenever their matches were praised, JR would reward them with bonuses on top of their regular pay.

“J.R. started bonusing us every time he would write that we stole the show. We would all get like $300 bonuses on top of whatever our payday was.”

But the story took a turn after the famous TLC 2 match at WrestleMania X-Seven. Hardy explained how Bubba Ray Dudley suggested they ask JR for additional compensation due to the match’s impact on the event. JR agreed and promised them a bonus.

“J.R. said, ‘Okay, if you guys feel that way, you know, if you thought you were that big of a draw for WrestleMania 17… it was a great match, no doubt. I’m sure a lot of people tuned in for that. I’ll bonus you.’ “He said, ‘I’ll give you X amount of dollars.’ I want to say it was like $5,000 each more or whatever it was.”

However, after receiving the bonuses, Hardy claims their paychecks began to show a decline in their pay-per-view earnings, suggesting that WWE quietly took back those bonuses by reducing their future payouts.

“We all talked about this later, kind of in solidarity… we realized our pay-per-view paydays kind of sunk a little bit after that. And I’m pretty sure they ended up taking that $5,000 out from each of us — 500 here, 500 there, 700 here, whatever. But he did honor his word and bonus us.”

This claim raises serious questions about WWE’s handling of talent compensation and suggests that while Jim Ross might have acted in good faith, the company found a way to claw back the bonuses by reducing future pay. It paints a picture of WWE’s internal practices, where talent may have been manipulated out of what they earned.

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