AEW Star Thunder Rosa Says WWE Once Offered Her $60K Per Year To Be A Referee

Even though injuries have slowed her down over the last few years, AEW's Thunder Rosa remains one of the more important wrestlers in the company's history, between her run as AEW Women's World Champion and her violent feud with Britt Baker from 2020 to 2022. But none of those things would've come to pass if Rosa had decided to take an offer from WWE that would've seen her transition from wrestler to referee.

In an interview "Real 92.3 LA," Rosa revealed that she was approached by WWE a year before she first appeared in AEW about joining the company and transitioning from wrestler to official. Despite an offer well below what she likely would've made as a wrestler, Rosa revealed she considered it, feeling it would've been steady income after years as an independent wrestler. Ultimately, circumstances prevented any sort of agreement, which Rosa feels worked out for the best.

"In 2019, they called me and they were like 'Are you ready to hang up the boots?'" Rosa said. "And I was like 'Well...' I needed money, you know? I needed steady money because, brother, being an independent professional wrestler, when you're talking about hustle, it's a hustle. I had a job when I was in the Bay Area, but when I decided to do wrestling full time, I was depending on my ex-husband and my hustle. 

"I was hustling all the time and I was tired. Like hustling after seven years, you're like, man, I need a job or something needs to happen...And they offered me like $60,000 a year, which at the time it was like 'All right, it's better than what I was making,' right? And there was a hurricane that happened. And then they just kept pushing my tryout and then it never happened. But it was meant to be that way."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Real 92.3 LA" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription