Mayweather is supposedly getting paid $20 million to wrestle at Mania.

[The Mackem]

At least it's not going to Hogan.

[Hanso Amore]

That is Mayweathers standard per fight. For his De La Hoya Fight, he got like 40 million.

[Londoner]

Yeh but thats boxing, not wrestling...its his debut match and he gets that much? Whatever.

[The Mackem]

Don't worry mate, he'll get his $40 million in his second match.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by Xero Limit 126 So you're saying that if you went on the street that you could find more people who actually knew who Mayweather is than wouldn't? I don't doubt that people know him, but I DO doubt that enough people who know him would buy the PPV enough to make $20 million back, even if they got a shitload of press from it. They're either already buying the PPV or think wrestling is a joke.

This is what my concern would be if I was concerned with the WWE's finances. Floyd Mayweather does well on boxing PPVs, but the audience may not be willing to crossover. Boxing is real (well, allegedly) ; wrestling is fake. This is generally known, and what the WWE is assuming is that Floyd Mayweather himself is the actual draw. I think it would more be his boxing ability, which is not questioned on a wrestling PPV.

If Floyd Mayweather went on a talk show, for example, would his boxing audience crossover? I'd answer with "probably not." If Floyd was boxing on the talk show? Maybe, if it was publicized enough.

That's why I think the WWE needs to play this up closer to boxing than wrestling. I wouldn't call it a "boxing match" or even contest it under boxing rules, but it needs to be advertised as if what Floyd Mayweather is going to do is legitimate shit, and not him appearing in professional wrestling as professional wrestling is.

Floyd Mayweather's ability is the draw, so the WWE needs to get people in with that. Not his necessarily his name.

[Londoner]

Originally Posted by The Mackem Don't worry mate, he'll get his $40 million in his second match.

Ooooh ok, i hope so.

[Anybody Thrilla]

To be fair, it's not just one match. It's a No Way Out appearance, probably a couple more Raw appearances, and a Wrestlemania appearance. Still, pretty pricey.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

Its a pretty bad investment though really, I mean they are definitely going to get a lot more coverage that they normally don't get, but they could have probably done something for a lot cheaper. I mean that Donald Trump thing got the WWE a lot of exposure last year (probably a lot more than Mayweather will this year) and I highly doubt they had to pay him nearly as much.

[Rob]

There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY Mayweather is getting $20 million. If he was, Wrestlemania would lose money.

[IC Champion]

I see this finiacially failing for Vince, as Mania buys will be about the same as last year. I don't even see Vince getting a return on his 20 million.

Vince will then lose his mind and blame everyone backstage except himself.

[Corkscrewed]

Even A-Rod doesn't get that much in a day.

[Rob]

Mania last year did about $5.5 million at the gate and about 1.2 million buys on PPV worldwide. For arguements sake, let's say they did $60 million on PPV. Well the PPV companies take at least 50% of that so now they are down to $30 million. Then they have to pay for production, advertising (biggest ever last year too) and arena costs which if we be extremely generous let's say only cost $5 million. So they down to $30 million roughly now and they haven't paid any wrestlers, staff, medics, security, etc, etc. Oh and Vince McMahon and Donald Trump had something like $5 million pay offs for that show.

Now you think Vince McMahon is gonna give one man $20 million?

[Londoner]

I think its bullshit even if its been 'confirmed'. You know, like how they bullshitted about mvp having the highest payed contract. Its an attempt to make wwe look bigger than it is.

[Rob]

Well WWE is a public company so it's very weird they have had someone in power confirm that number. Especially when they don't confirm any numbers for wages ever.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by Noid This is what my concern would be if I was concerned with the WWE's finances. Floyd Mayweather does well on boxing PPVs, but the audience may not be willing to crossover. Boxing is real (well, allegedly) ; wrestling is fake. This is generally known, and what the WWE is assuming is that Floyd Mayweather himself is the actual draw. I think it would more be his boxing ability, which is not questioned on a wrestling PPV. If Floyd Mayweather went on a talk show, for example, would his boxing audience crossover? I'd answer with "probably not." If Floyd was boxing on the talk show? Maybe, if it was publicized enough. That's why I think the WWE needs to play this up closer to boxing than wrestling. I wouldn't call it a "boxing match" or even contest it under boxing rules, but it needs to be advertised as if what Floyd Mayweather is going to do is legitimate shit, and not him appearing in professional wrestling as professional wrestling is. Floyd Mayweather's ability is the draw, so the WWE needs to get people in with that. Not his necessarily his name.

Basically, there will always be some crossover. Some, however, can be anything from a few to most. Assuming the 20 million dollar figure is correct, and it still sounds extreme, they'd need to get a lot of that audience to even reach a break even point. His bout was the highest grossing and most watched match in the history of PPV boxing, which is great, but that equals 2 million people, and with a gross of over 150 million, Mayeweather STILL "only" gets around 20 million. That alone screams "bullshit" to me.

Anyway, the question is whether Mayweather's involvement will interest enough boxing fans who aren't already wrestling fans to significantly influence the numbers and justify his salary, and the odds are on no at 20 million, and still no at significantly less.