Brandi Rhodes: AEW Wants To Assure People That There Is No Gender Pay Gap

Brandi Rhodes continues to detail what she meant at the AEW Rally.

One of the big talking points coming out of the AEW Rally last Tuesday was Brandi Rhodes saying, “We care about our women. They will be paid equally. There’s no sliding scale.” Some fans took this as meaning women in AEW would be paid the same as someone like Chris Jericho, who is reportedly making the most money he’s made in his career in AEW. 

Brandi later clarified her comments in a social media post, saying, “Equal pay means equal opportunity regardless of sex. It does not mean that everyone will be paid the exact same salary regardless of their position. It means the gender pay gap does not apply. An entry level woman won’t make less than an entry level man because of her gender.”

Speaking to Kristen Ashly at Diva Dirt, Brandi offered up more details on what she meant by her “equal pay” comments and expressed hope that AEW could create a ripple effect in the industry, leading to other companies paying women equally.

“There are a lot of places in our industry where the women just start lower, unfortunately. It’s been this way for a very long time. In the world of Independent contractors, it’s a little bit different,” explained Brandi. “A lot of people have said, ‘Nope, this isn’t an issue. Equal pay has been a thing for forever now. You just aren’t with the times.’ I’m still working in an industry where it has not been and it doesn’t have to be because of the Independent contractor system. There’s really no way to track it. We really wanted to assure the people that work for us that you don’t have to worry about that. You don’t have to worry about, ‘Am I potentially not making more money because of my gender?’ It helps people rest easier knowing they give 150 percent every day and they get paid to give 150 percent every day. It’s not any kind of shock factor or publicity stunt. It’s what’s real. I’m hoping it does have some sort of ripple effect.”

In the same interview, Brandi addressed whether or not intergender wrestling would be part of AEW. You can view her comments on the subject here.