In a letter to Bobby Bruns in Hawaii (1/18/53), Sam Muchnick informed him that the "average" workers in his territory were "making $300 and up." Bruns was considering returning to the mainland and being booked out of St. Louis by Muchnick. Orville Brown, the first National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight champion of the expanded NWA, was retired from the ring and the head of his own booking office in Kansas City when he wrote a letter to Muchnick dated March 4, 1955. Brown explained his belief that every wrestler in the NWA should be guaranteed $25 per match. He wrote, "Until this year, I have followed that rule faithfully, no matter how poor the house or how great my losses." He went on to say that he'd been hearing that in some territories, wrestlers were getting as low as $3 per appearance. Brown said that he understood that the $25 minimum was established during better financial times, but then a new minimum should have been created for all members to follow. He then noted that he felt "a little silly moving that a rule be changed [at the NWA convention] when it is no longer in effect anyway." Research by Tim Hornbaker |
Wrestlers Earnings throughout History |