>>14130219The difference is more so that for AEW, 95% of your AEW income will be Salary with very little royalties, sponsorships, etc. They don't move merch (still insist on printing on demand), companies like Hershey's or Target might buy a TV ad but don't have AEW wrestlers doing commercials, and so on. ("Goyslop", "Consoom", yadda yadda, save it)
WWE contracts are more like NFL contracts: you get that rookie deal for lower than market rate, and for your second contract and beyond, the sky's the limit. If Ospreay, Jay White, Okada and others prefer the guaranteed money and limited outside opportunities, then by all means. I legit hope they're able to turn AEW around, but it's going to take a lot more work than showing up once per week on TV.
What AEW needs more than anything is for their wrestlers to do as many things as possible outside of wrestling to make waves...and not just while they're out injured like Kenny Omega and Adam Cole. FTR Bald doing a podcast was cool, til he ran out of material. They need much more stuff like that to keep fans involved 7 days per week.
