Maria Kanellis says WWE offered her less money when her contract came up in 2010, despite her outside visibility and regular workload. She detailed the negotiations during an appearance on Wrestling Life with Ben Veal.
Kanellis said she was preparing to film the Celebrity Apprentice finale after appearing at WrestleMania and in Playboy. She also said she was traveling as often as John Cena when WWE presented its offer.
“This is less than I made the year before.”
Kanellis rejected the offer and submitted a counterproposal. WWE did not move, and John Laurinaitis called the day after her birthday to say Vince McMahon believed she wanted to pursue other opportunities.
She said she felt relief after standing her ground. Kanellis believed her popularity justified an increase, pointing to the traffic generated by her material on WWE’s website.
“My clicks were the same about as John Cena.”
Kanellis acknowledged that she was not taking the same physical toll as full-time male wrestlers because she divided her time among wrestling, managing and interviewing. Still, she said she would not accept roughly one-third of a male wrestler’s pay or less than she had earned the previous year.
Kanellis later continued working across wrestling, though she has said she did not accomplish what she wanted during her AEW run.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Wrestling Life with Ben Veal, with a h/t to Wrestling Headlines for the transcription.
