WWE Hall of Famer D-Von Dudley has opened up about the financial perks of being a legend under WWE contract. In a video posted to his YouTube channel, the former tag team icon discussed how lucrative WWE’s legends deals can be, and why he is grateful for how far things have come since his early days in the business.
Reflecting on how the industry used to operate, Dudley explained that retired talent in the 80s and 90s had very few opportunities to earn money once they stepped away from the ring. However, that has changed dramatically thanks to WWE’s legends contracts, which continue to generate substantial income long after a wrestler’s in-ring career ends.
“Now, there’s a thing called a legends contract, or a legends deal, so to speak. I’m happy to say that me and Bubba [Ray Dudley] got a legends deal. We signed it about two, maybe three years ago, and going strong and making money, it’s been a great opportunity for us, because remember back in the 80s and 90s, once you were done, you were done, we didn’t have anything like this that you could be able to make money off of. So the times have changed, and I’m definitely glad that I’ve changed with it.
What the legends deals consist of is that the WWE is allowed to use your likeness. They’re allowed put you on video games, to put you on action figures, on cups and T-shirts. You name it, they’ll do it. You’re still making money one way or another with the company, and most likely it’s really good money. When you start making merchandise sales, and you get more than $30,000-40,000 a check, I mean, that’s really, really good money, so I’m very happy and content about what’s going on with that.”