More details have surfaced regarding the claim that WWE once offered Thunder Rosa a deal to transition into a referee role.
The story initially gained traction after Thunder Rosa revealed during an appearance on Real 92.3 LA that WWE had offered her $60,000 per year to work as a referee, an offer that would have required her to retire from in-ring competition.
That statement quickly sparked debate among fans.
However, speaking on Wrestling Observer Live at F4WOnline.com, Bryan Alvarez provided additional context and clarified several aspects of the situation.
“I did hear from some people that wanted me to clarify some things because there’s also been a lot of misinformation,” he stated. “So, essentially, the gist of the story is true. They offered her a tryout to be a referee. And she would have been paid $60,000 if she had passed the tryout.”
Alvarez went on to stress that the offer is not a recent development, but rather something that dates back several years.
“This is not something that happened recently. This was something that happened in 2019. Apparently, there have been stories about WWE trying to tamper with contracts and they’re trying to take this great AEW wrestler and make her a referee, and this and that. This was an offer from 2019. The offer was for $60,000 a year, and she would have been starting in NXT.”
To further add perspective, Alvarez explained the financial landscape in NXT at the time, noting that the offer may not have been as low as some initially believed.
Another key detail.
Alvarez also pointed out that WWE covers travel expenses for NXT talent when events take place outside of the Performance Center.
“In 2019, if you started as a wrestler in NXT, you were making $70,000,” he said. “That was the beginning offer for a wrestler in NXT in 2019. They were offering her $60,000 to be a referee in NXT. So when you’re making $70,000 in NXT, you’re just making $70,000. It’s not like the main roster where you have to pay for your own hotel and transportation. So $60,000 for a refereeing job in NXT is not as bad as it sounds on the surface. She did agree to do the tryout, but it was 2019. And so you can probably all figure out what happened. The pandemic hit and the tryouts were, first it was weather and then it was COVID. And so essentially she never even made it to the tryout.”
In the end, the opportunity never materialized, as the planned tryout was ultimately derailed before it could even take place.
