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Topics: WWE, WWE Smackdown, Wrestling
Jack Kenmare
Former WWE superstar Maven has detailed how much he earned during his four-year stint with the company.
The 48-year-old, whose full name is Maven Klate Huffman, started his career with the World Wrestling Federation after winning the inaugural season of Tough Enough – a reality show developed by WWE where participants compete to win a contract.
After being sent to the Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) to receive more training, he eventually made his in-ring debut with the WWE against Tazz during an episode of SmackDown.
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Maven would go on to feud with The Undertaker after he eliminated 'The Deadman' from the 2002 Royal Rumble, and later faced a number of high-profile superstars, including Triple H, Chris Jericho, Batista and Edge.
Speaking on his YouTube channel in 2023, the three-time WWE Hardcore champion confirmed he was initially given a downside guarantee of $50,000-a-year after winning Tough Enough, meaning he earned that amount no matter how much he wrestled, or if he was injured.
Maven, who said the most he ever made from a pay-per-view event was $30,000, also revealed his most lucrative year at the WWE, as well as the most unprofitable.
“How much did I make in my best year? Right around $430,000," he said. "That was my best year on pay sheets. That was a year I remained injury free, that was a year I was on one all the house shows, the overseas trips, pay-per-views, I had a good storyline.
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"The writing staff really utilized me for the entire year. The key to that is remaining injury free. The moment you get injured, the moment you go back to your downside guarantee, you don’t have the possibility of earning this much.”
He continued: "What was my worst year? A year that, for more than two-thirds of the year I was nursing a broken leg, and my downside guarantee being at $75,000 at the time, a little over $80,000. That was my worst year," he said.
Interestingly, the Tennessee-born wrestler noted that most midcard guys got around $6,000 for pay-per-views, while main event guys could consistently get $100,000.
Despite his departure in 2005, Maven says he still receives royalty payments, although the amount decreased significantly when The Network was introduced.
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"I still get four quarterly checks from royalties," he said . "The Network killed our DVD sales, so royalty checks went down dramatically over the years. On average, my royalties, pre-Network, was around $5,000 every quarter. Today, it's different, my royalty now per quarter is $300.
"Once the WWE put out the Network, I will be honest, royalty payments for me took a nosedive, and I know from talking to other former wrestlers, their royalty payments took a nosedive as well.
"As a matter of fact, the last royalty check I got was $63. But, even still, the fact that I'm getting checks for a job I haven't done in almost 20 years, I'm eternally grateful and it still kinda shocks me to this day."