Jim Cornette Suggests AEW’s High Salaries for Wrestlers Like Swerve Strickland Might Not Match Their Revenue Impact

Swerve Strickland has been making headlines in AEW with his impressive wrestling skills and strong presence. Recently, he signed a new contract with AEW, but Jim Cornette has expressed concerns that the terms of the contract might not reflect Strickland’s impact on revenue.

During the Zero Hour pre-show at AEW All In, it was revealed that Swerve Strickland had signed contract extension with AEW. The announcement was made in a segment where Strickland, alongside Prince Nana and Tony Khan, was seen signing the new deal.

It was then reported that Swerve Strickland’s new multi-year contract with AEW will keep him with the company until at least 2028, though the exact duration is not publicly known. This deal is seen as one of the most significant in AEW’s history.

While speaking on his YouTube channel, Jim Cornette commented on AEW’s decision to give high salaries to wrestlers like Swerve Strickland. He thinks that while Strickland got a big contract, it might not match the money he brings into the company. Cornette criticized Tony Khan for spending so much on wrestlers, suggesting it’s excessive.

Cornette compared Strickland to other well-known wrestlers like Mercedes Moné and Kazuchika Okada, saying that although Strickland is skilled, the large salaries might be too high given the revenue they generate. Cornette believes that Khan’s tendency to offer more money than other promotions could upset the normal pay structure in wrestling.

“Bravo to Swerve for getting the money, because you can’t feel any empathy or sympathy for Tony at this point when he’s just throwing out these millions of dollars ludicrously. And Swerve is not, I mean, let’s face it, Mercedes is embarrassing in that she’s being paid millions of dollars for whatever she’s doing publicly on this program. Okada, to me, is the same thing—it’s embarrassing that this broken-down, bland, boring individual is getting millions of dollars when there are guys in that company working their asses off. They don’t get any help from the office or from booking, but they’re working hard. Swerve is not embarrassing; he’s working hard, he’s trying to do his best, but there is no cohesive creative direction. So bless him for getting the money.

Having said that, yes, there’s a difference between making an offer for someone and seeing if Tony will top it just as a sport. Tony isn’t even topping offers; he’s blowing the doors off any other offers. This can get ridiculous for the pay structure of the business in general. Not saying that WWE pays their guys a percentage of their income or gross that they should get, compared to other sports athletes—that’s a different story. But just randomly paying millions of dollars for talent that is nowhere near worth that does lead to issues. Then you’ve got guys choosing whether to sign with this lunatic asylum for five years, get all this money, retire, and never work again, or whether they think they can make big money in this business for 15 years with WWE if they do it right. That’s about the only reason not to just take this sucker’s money.”

Cornette also questioned if these high salaries are really worth it if they don’t lead to more revenue for AEW. He noted that Khan might be giving more money just to keep wrestlers, which could lead to higher salary demands in the future.

“Swerve is better, more valuable, has more upside, and is younger—at least looks younger—than others, and is not anything like Mercedes. But does that mean that if Tony paid him $50 million, it would be worth it just because he’s the best of the bunch? No. By any metric you can examine, Swerve Strickland has not added that much revenue to the company, and I’m not sure that anybody else on the roster would pass that scrutiny either. Tony, at this point, will give anyone who comes up for renewal more money to stay, just because he’ll be embarrassed if he loses them, and I think a lot of them know that.”

Reports indicated that WWE is concerned that Swerve Strickland’s high-paying AEW contract could be harmful to the wrestling industry. Regardless, Strickland is happy with his lucrative salary and it remains to be seen whether such practices will end up harming AEW in the long run.

Do you believe Swerve Strickland’s impact on revenue doesn’t warrant his new AEW contract? Let us know in the comments section below!

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