David Otunga Gives Business Advice To WWE NXT Stars

Over the last several months, David Otunga has become a popular new name in the pro wrestling podcasting landscape, reliving his career with WWE and using his Harvard law degree to give insights into wrestling contracts. Now, Otunga is also giving out advice for wrestlers either under contract or not in regards on what to know and what to look out for when negotiating terms.

Most recently on his YouTube channel, Otunga covered WWE residuals and royalties for the modern day wrestler. The former Nexus member noted that should be a particular concern for talents these days, as royalties and residuals no longer mattered as much as they had before, due to the decline of physical media and the rise of streaming.

"All of WWE's library, it's streaming, and pretty much it'll be at Netflix or whatever platform," Otunga said. "Those are licenced matches, licenced appearances. Basically, the wrestlers are being paid once for that. There are no royalties or residuals from that. You're paid for your appearance, that's it. So I would say to this talent, if they wanted to get royalties or residuals, make a big enough name for yourself where you can land a spot on a TV show, or in a movie. That's where you'll make some royalties and residual payments. 

"But that's pretty much going to be the best way for you, at this point in time. That being said, here's a piece of advice; make sure you're cognizant of that going into a contract, and make sure you get a larger downside guarantee. This is for all you wrestlers out there right now, or in the future that are going to be negotiating your contracts. Make sure you ask for a higher guarantee. Don't let them try to convince you or con you with residuals or royalties, because they're not what they used to be. So take your money up front."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "David Otunga" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription