TKO Group COO Confirms 'Resized' WWE Superstar Compensation

TKO Group continues to make shifts in how WWE Superstar and UFC fighter pay is sized up inside their company.

This spring, WWE maintained a tough tradition and reworked its roster coming out of WrestleMania. Main roster talents and a batch of NXT developmental stars were released from their contracts or weren't renewed. This annual chopping has become a fixture of the week after the biggest WWE show of the year.

Later in the spring, The New Day departed WWE. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, now known as Kofi and Austin Creed as The New Level in AEW, confirmed that they were asked to take a pay cut prior to leaving the company. The rumored cut amount was 50%, but Kofi said that it was actually more than that.

During an appearance at the Goldman Sachs Conference, TKO Group COO Mark Shapiro confirmed that there was a resizing of talent pay in WWE, but also fighter pay in the UFC.

“What I would tell you is post our new deals with ESPN on WWE and with Paramount+, CBS, Peacock, Sky with UFC, and even a little bit post Raw with Netflix, we did resize our fighter and superstar pay composition," Shapiro said. "That is baked into our numbers."

Internal talent development is integral in TKO business growth strategy

Shapiro opened up about the importance of talent in TKO Group's products and said that cultivating talent internally is as important as ever. Currently, a vast majority of WWE Superstars are coming from their own developmental system.

"We do, to your point, really rely on development," Shapiro said. "Keep in mind that when you look at the WWE, 75% of the superstars come from NXT. So they’re starting in our development league and going all the way up. So pipeline is very important to our strategy."

TKO Group is the parent company of both UFC and WWE. It operates under the Endeavor banner and was formed when Endeavor purchased WWE from Vince McMahon in 2023. McMahon retired from WWE in 2022, but then returned to the company to facilitate the sale to Endeavor.

McMahon initially served as Executive Chairman of the new TKO Group, but later resigned amid Janel Grant's allegations. Nick Khan is the current WWE President, while Triple H is the Chief Creative Officer and has held that position since Vince McMahon left the organization.

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