Maven Says He Was Paid $30,000 To Have His Likeness Scanned Into WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth

Maven talks about how much he was paid in royalty fees when he was scanned to have his likeness used in WWE video games and for action figures. 

WWE is a merchandising machine that has always maximized the value of its brand on almost every single imaginable piece of merchandise. Since 1989, home console video games have been a steady source of revenue for WWE and its Superstars.

While the number of superstars in every video game has increased yearly, several WWE Superstars were only fortunate enough to make it into one video game. Maven is one of those Superstars. 

Maven was only ever featured in the 2002 title, WWE SmackDown!: Shut Your Mouth released for the PlayStation 2. In his latest YouTube video, Maven looks back on his experience being scanned for the game and talks about how much he was paid in royalties and how much of those royalties came from his inclusion in the WWE’s annual video game release. 

“So, my royalty payments were anywhere from, at the time, between $2,000-$7,000 every quarter. This would be a determinant of your positioning on the show. Obviously, The Rock, Chris Jericho, Trish Stratus, Stacy Keibler, Undertaker, they were higher up in the company so they were making a ton more and it would obviously depend on how the video game sold. Was it selling good? Was it flying off the shelves? If so, you were making more money for royalty payments,” Maven said. “Video games accounted for roughly 20% of [his royalty payments]. So, if I made $2,000 in royalties, I might make $400 of that because of the video games.” 

Maven also spoke about the overall check he was given by JAKKS Pacific in order to have his likeness utilized for video games in action figures. Maven admits that while he enjoyed the quarterly royalty check, the payment that he was given to have his likeness scanned and utilized was one of the largest checks he’d ever received with his name on it. 

“That first scan, that very first time they take you off, when they’re in essence buying your rights, that’s the check you want, and that’s a check that I still wish I was getting today. I didn’t make $10,000. I didn’t make $20,000. They paid me $30,000. That was the royalty payment I got for being scanned into the video game. I saw one of the biggest checks I had ever seen with my name on it.” 

In the past, Maven has also spoken up about how his pay would increase if he was on the Monday Night Raw roster as opposed to WWE SmackDown. Learn more here. 

The inaugural winner of WWE Tough Enough also opened up about how much he made overall throughout his time in WWE. Learn more here.

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If you use any of the above quotes, please credit Maven’s YouTube channel in addition to linking back to this article and giving Fightful credit for transcription.