John Cena Says He Got Paid $75,000 Per Year When He Was Moved To WWE TV

John Cena talks money in WWE. 

John Cena started his career in UPW in 1999, and quickly advanced to Ohio Valley Wrestling in 2000. By 2002, he was on WWE television and confronting Kurt Angle. In 2005, Cena won his first World Title by defeating JBL at WrestleMania 21. The rest, is history.

Appearing on Impaulsive with Logan Paul, Cena was asked if if he knew he could be one of the best to ever step in the ring when he started his career. 

“There was a moment where I knew there was a possible path, and that was when I got my first contract. I’m very vocal about this, because of the times, it was height of the WCW-WWF wars where everyone was under contract because they didn’t want you going to the other place. It was like the .com war. You have a .com? I’ll buy it. My first contract was for $12,500 a year. I quit my job. I still lived in Los Angeles. I had to operate pretty lean. I didn’t have to, I chose to. In all the stories I tell, ‘I lived in my car,’ I did that by choice. I had a warm bed and roof over my head in Massachusetts. My dad is the most giving person to his sons, ‘You always have a home here, I’ll always take care of you.’ I wanted to do that. I chose to go through some hardships to be where I’m at. I quit because my philosophy was, ‘This is my job. I’m being paid, I’m a professional. This is my job. I will find a way to make it work because someone has bet on me and if I don’t let them down, I can inch forward. I did that. My second contract was for like $25,000. Then, they moved me to Kentucky, and it became $50,000. They moved me to TV and it became $75,000. Then, I ended up signing a better deal and a better deal,” he said. 

Cena then joked that he’s not being paid anymore because WWE can’t see him. 

Elsewhere during the interview, Cena once again commented on his WWE future and if he’d take an executive role in the company. You can find his full comments by clicking here. 

If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.