John Cena Reveals How Much Money He Made From First WWE Contract

John Cena has established himself as one of the biggest names in the history of professional wrestling, and it’s probably safe to say that he’s well off financially nowadays. Cena has certainly earned his money, but he originally had to accept a low amount of money when he signed his first WWE contract.

Recently Cena spoke with Shannon Sharpe on Club Shay Shay, and he revealed that he was only making $12,500 a year from his first contract when he was starting out with WWE.

“My contract was for $12,500 a year and my rent was for $1,200 a month. I quit my job immediately to become a professional. I was already operating at a loss but the good thing about credit cards is they’ll mail you more opportunities to get more credit cards. So I just like, ‘Yeah, I’ll just take more of the plastic pieces that get me free food and all that. This is going to be great.’ So I bet on myself.”

John Cena has declared that he will be wrestling from January through December of 2025, but he will be retiring from in-ring competition when the year is up. The former WWE Champion also confirmed that he signed a contract extension that will keep him with WWE beyond 2025 and you can get more on that here.