Details On The Revival’s Current WWE Contract, Downside Guarantee, When They Expire

There had been reports that Scott Dawson’s WWE contract had expired after he tweeted “free at last,” The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that this is not the case. It was noted that the contract is only a few weeks from expiring, however.

The Revival have moved beyond the downside figure on their contracts and since they haven’t been booked, they haven’t been paid in almost two months. This isn’t exclusive to the Revival, a lot of talent would only be paid for days booked if they moved past their downside.

Some wrestlers, such as Heath Slater, made sure their $400,000 downside was paid bi-weekly instead of agreeing to regular payments every other week based on house shows and merchandise sales. In the case of he majority of the wrestlers, if they don’t make their downside, they get a lump sum at the end of the year. If there is a long shutdown like there is now, most of the talent won’t be paid until later. In a case like Slater, since he isn’t booked very much, he likely wouldn’t get $8,000 weeks based on his spot, the number of shows he works and merchandise he sells, so that’s likely why he asked for the biweekly payments from his downside.

The Revival was originally going to be given a comedy gimmick to “cool them off” prior to their exit, instead they were not used at all. This reportedly pressured them into signing since they wouldn’t get paid. Even though Dawson’s deal is up in a few weeks, Wilder’s won’t be until mid-June. That would be the earliest they could sign anywhere as a team, unless of course Dawson went somewhere on his own (and that wouldn’t be possible due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic). Presumably, they wouldn’t make any money until mid-June unless they sign new deals and ask to be paid ahead. Even if they are signed and booked, there’s no guarantee they will be paid for their shows right now.

This kind of thing usually puts pressure on a lot of wrestlers if they go a lengthy amount of time without being booked.