Former WWE Star Talks Huge Drop In Royalty Checks After WWE Network Launch, How Much He Makes Now
Recently, Wrestling Inc.'s President, Raj Giri, caught up with Kevin Fertig, also known as Kevin Thorn. During the interview, which will be published in its entirety next week, the former WWE and ECW talent talked about how the WWE Network has affected his royalty payments from WWE.
Thorn claimed that he has seen a "huge" difference in his royalty payments since the inception of the WWE Network. Specifically, his royalty payments went from $2,000 or $3,000 per quarter to a mere $67.
"They were always, and I mean, I wasn't on a whole lot, but $2,000, $3,000, somewhere in there, and now they're $67. I think the last one [was $67]."
The master of the crucifix powerbomb attributed this whopping dip in payments to the WWE Network reducing video sales. Thorn divulged that he still receives good payouts here and there, but nothing like it was before.
"The way the WWE does their contracts, the reason why the lawyers are some of the highest paid in the country is because they don't want to get sued." Thorn continued, "the Network confuses me because I get a check every now and then for royalties for this and that, from video sales and stuff. But now that we have the Network, video sales are out the door. So how does that [happen]? I mean, I think it's just them being so smart and seeing so much into the future with how things are going to be produced that they knew how to write it so they wouldn't have to pay anybody. And I mean, you could try [to sue WWE], but it's not worth it. I mean, guys can try. They'll just tie it up [in litigation] for as long as they need to and you're eventually going to run out of money trying to fight them, so why bother?"
You can follow Thorn on Twitter at @TheKevinFertig. Thorn will be in action at the House of Hardcore events in October. You can get more details at houseofhardcore.net.