How Much Money Did Bad Bunny Make From His Work With The WWE?

August 2024 ยท 5 minute read

After Bad Bunny rose to prominence, it didn't take too long for him to become one of the most successful performers in the music industry. If that wasn't impressive enough, Bad Bunny has also managed to launch an acting career with his appearances in movies like F9 and Bullet Train.Given Bad Bunny's secretive relationship with Gabriela Berlingeri as well as his acting and movie careers, it seemed unlikely he would have time for anything else. Despite that, Bad Bunny wound up working for the WWE for weeks.When it comes to the WWE, a lot of fans don't know what really goes on behind the scenes. With that in mind, it makes perfect sense that most of Bad Bunny's fans have no idea what it would be like for a performer like him to work with the WWE. During Bad Bunny's time working with the WWE, wrestling fans got to see him involved in a lot of entertaining moments. Still, one of the most fascinating aspects of Bad Bunny's WWE tenure is how much money the famous rapper made from the company.

How Much Money Did Bad Bunny Make From The WWE?

Throughout wrestling history, the business has always tried hard to keep what goes on behind the scenes a secret. As a result of that and the fact that most people don't talk specifics about their money, there is no way to know exactly how much Bad Bunny has made from the WWE.

Related: What Does Bad Bunny Spend His Millions On?

That said, it is possible to get a pretty good idea of the kind of money that Bad Bunny makes based on public information, and it seems very clear he has made a hefty amount.

When trying to figure out how much money the WWE has paid Bad Bunny, the first thing to look at is the base salary he received while working for the company.

According to a February 2023 Cosmopolitan article, the WWE paid Bad Bunny "an estimated $100,000 per appearance in the ring".

According to profightdb.com, Bad Bunny has appeared in three official WWE matches to date. On top of his matches, Bad Bunny performed his song "Booker T" during the 2021 Royal Rumble, and he appeared on multiple episodes of WWE programming leading up to WrestleMania 37.

Another thing to consider is that WWE performers also get bonuses based on how successful a show they perform on is. For many years now, it has been common knowledge among wrestling fans that performers get their biggest payday of the year if they are included in WrestleMania in a high-profile match.

According to Wrestling's best-known journalist, Dave Meltzer, for instance, Andre The Giant got a $1 million bonus for losing to Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania III. Considering that event took place in 1987, with inflation involved that is a staggering amount of money.

At WrestleMania 37, Bad Bunny and Damian Priest took on The Miz and John Morrison in a high-profile match. As a result, Bad Bunny likely would have received a bonus in the tens of thousands range, if not more.

Another thing to consider in this equation is merchandise sales. According to Forbes, WWE "wrestlers were typically entitled to 25% of WWE net receipts derived from the sale of licensed merchandise that featured only the wrestler".

During the aforementioned Cosmopolitan article, they reported that Bad Bunny drove "more than $500,000 in merchandise sales to WWE during their first run". Since Cosmopolitan got that figure from Fightful Select, which is considered a credible wrestling outlet, it seems relatively safe to take that figure at face value.

If all of that reporting is true, Bad Bunny would have received at least $125,000 from merchandise if he received 25% of that $500,000 figure. However, it also is worth noting that since Bad Bunny was famous before working with the WWE, he may have been able to demand a higher percentage of merchandise sales.

After that $500,000 figure was reported, Bad Bunny was also included as a bonus for people who pre-ordered the video game WWE 2K3.

Related: These Wrestlers Are Banned From Being In WWE Video Games

Every year, the WWE makes a huge amount of money from video game sales. With the company basing its efforts to get fans to pre-order WWE 2K23 around Bad Bunny, the rapper will almost certainly get a huge payday for his involvement in the game.

Over the years, the WWE has become infamous for exaggerating. Most infamously, the WWE has consistently claimed 93,173 people watched WrestleMania live but wrestling journalists like Dave Meltzer report the real attendance number fell between 78,500 and 88,000.

Given how things related to the WWE get exaggerated and neither Bad Bunny nor the company have confirmed any of the aforementioned reports, they could be overstating things. Even with that in mind, however, it seems pretty clear that Bad Bunny has made millions from the WWE to date.

Unlike most stars of his caliber, there have been disagreements about how much money Bad Bunny is worth. However, one thing is clear based on his relationship with WWE, Bad Bunny is shrewd enough to accumulate a massive fortune.

How Else Did Bad Bunny Make Money From WWE?

Throughout wrestling history, there is a long history of mainstream celebrities making appearances at shows. The reason for that is two-fold with one being that companies like the WWE have been willing to pay to be associated with mainstream stars. On top of that, since wrestling fans tend to be loyal and passionate, appearing on shows can help make celebrities more successful.

Related: 10 Celebs WWE Needs To Bring Back (And 8 That Should Be Banned)

Thanks to Bad Bunny's relationship with the WWE, he has been introduced to loads of people who otherwise wouldn't have known him. While there is no way to quantify how many wrestling fans became big enough Bad Bunny supporters for him to monetize them, he surely gained some fans.

At the very least, it seems very clear that WWE and Bad Bunny believe that he can make money off of wrestling fans. After all, WWE produced an expensive-looking video promoting Bad Bunny's tour. On top of that, the WWE legend Undertaker promoted Bad Bunny's tour out of character.

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