Professional wrestling has been a thing for over a century now, but for most people, wrestling means one thing: WWE. It’s the biggest wrestling promotion in the world, and has been for quite some time. The wrestling business has created so many stars to date, and while fans and even other wrestlers may have their own opinions as to who was the greatest, these things don’t actually matter to WWE because, in the end, it always comes down to just one thing: money.
Who made WWE the most money? More precisely, which one of the numerous WWE faces of the last few decades took the company to greater heights? The answer might be surprising.
WWE’s annual revenue data, used in this article, was sourced from Wrestlenomics .
Hulk Hogan Was The Original WWE Golden Boy
Hulk Hogan Was WWE’s Star Wrestler In The 80s & Early 90s
| Year | Total Revenue For Each Year | After Inflation In 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | $29.6 Million | $62.18 Million |
| 1985 | $63.13 Million | $130.29 Million |
| 1986 | $77.41 Million | $158.54 Million |
| 1987 | $76.9 Million | $154.56 Million |
| 1988 | $96.86 Million | $190.91 Million |
| 1989 | $122.13 Million | $234.48 Million |
| 1990 | $147.84 Million | $276.9 Million |
| 1991 | $144.07 Million | $262.78 Million |
| 1992 | Data not available | Data not available |
| 1993 | $123.32 Million | $217.04 Million |
One of the early influential wrestlers in the business was Hulk Hogan. Everybody knows about him, they may not like him anymore, but they grew up watching him. He made WWE millions and was responsible for the business booming back in the ’80s. WrestleMania launched with Hulk Hogan in the main event, so there’s no doubt Vince McMahon had complete faith in him, and he wasn’t wrong.
The first WrestleMania saved WWE from going out of business, and Hogan received credit for that. During his tenure from 1983 to 1993, the company made around $881 million, which, if we account for inflation, comes down to about $1.6 billion.
Bret Hart & Shawn Michaels Were At The Top Of The New Generation Era
Both Wrestlers Were MVPs Of WWE At A Time When They Were Struggling Financially
| Year | Total Revenue For Each Year | After Inflation In 2023 |
| 1994 | $89.24 Million | $154.92 Million |
| 1995 | $87.4 Million | $149.02 Million |
| 1996 | $85.8 Million | $143.8 Million |
| 1997 | $81.9 Million | $135.22 Million |
After Hulk Hogan left the company, WWE needed some new faces to take over. The Ultimate Warrior was seen as a successor to Hogan, and while he was pretty popular among fans, he wasn’t really the “face” of WWE. In fact, he got fired from the company two times for being a nuisance. In the early 90s, Bret Hart joined WWE and by 1992, he was the WWE Champion. Around that time, Shawn Michaels had also changed his gimmick to The Heartbreak Kid. It took him a few years, but he also became a main eventer. Bret and Shawn’s runs as the faces of WWE lasted only a few years, but if we consider they really became the focus point of WWE after Hogan left in mid-1993, and before the Attitude Era became popular, it comes down to 1994-1997, and WWE made around $344.34 million in these years. With inflation in mind, the total revenue WWE collected was $582.96 million.
Stone Cold Steve Austin & The Rock Made WWE Mainstream
The Attitude Era Is Widely Considered The Best Era Of WWE Because Of Austin & The Rock
| Year | Total Revenue For Each Year | After Inflation In 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | $126.2 Million | $206.59 Million |
| 1999 | $250.3 Million | $403.98 Million |
| 2000 | $377.9 Million | $598.22 Million |
| 2001 | $438.1 Million | $679.06 Million |
| 2002 | $409.6 Million | $628.33 Million |
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Rock were two of the biggest wrestling names of the Attitude Era. While this is the era that a lot of wrestling fans today grew up watching, this wasn’t when WWE made the most money. From 1998 to 2002, the company made $1.6 billion, which was worth $2.5 billion in 2023. WWE would’ve probably made a lot more with Austin and Rock, but the wrestlers left in the early 2000s and were only there for the big matches.
28 Best PPVs From WWE’s Attitude Era
WWE’s Attitude Era is known for being the best era in company history. These PPV events are proof of that.
John Cena Brought The Dollars As The Face That Ran The Place
John Cena Took WWE To New Heights After Their Transition To PG
| Year | Total Revenue For Each Year | After Inflation In 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | $366.4 Million | $532.75 Million |
| 2006 | $400.1 Million | $567.74 Million |
| 2007 | $485.7 Million | $676.58 Million |
| 2008 | $526.5 Million | $712.88 Million |
| 2009 | $475.2 Million | $646.75 Million |
| 2010 | $477.6 Million | $639.51 Million |
| 2011 | $483.9 Million | $632.46 Million |
| 2012 | $484 Million | $621.46 Million |
| 2013 | $508 Million | $646.68 Million |
| 2014 | $542.6 Million | $679.88 Million |
The Ruthless Aggression Era gave birth to the likes of John Cena, Batista, and Randy Orton’s main event push. While all of these wrestlers had their big moments at that time, Cena was WWE’s chosen one. He wasn’t as popular among the adults, but the kids absolutely adored him. They idolized him and wanted to be like him. Cena became the new face of the company, and while he joined the main roster much earlier, it wasn’t until 2005 that he really became a main eventer. He carried the company over his shoulder for another 10 years, until 2014, and WWE made around $4.75 billion. That was about $6.35 billion in 2023.
Roman Reigns Leads WWE Into A New Profitable Era
Roman Reigns Is Indeed The Head Of The Table With How Much Money WWE Has Made With Him As Their Face
| Year | Total Revenue For Each Year | After Inflation In 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | $658.8 Million | $826.79 Million |
| 2016 | $729.2 Million | $907.12 Million |
| 2017 | $801 Million | $978.82 Million |
| 2018 | $930.2 Million | $1.11 Billion |
| 2019 | $960.4 Million | $1.13 Billion |
| 2020 | $974.2 Million | $1.14 Billion |
| 2021 | $1.1 Billion | $1.24 Billion |
| 2022 | $1.29 Billion | $1.35 Billion |
| 2023 | $1.33 Billion | $1.33 Billion |
Roman Reigns’ push began in the early 2010s. The Shield ended, and WWE had to figure out how to get The Big Dog over on the same level as his predecessors. They decided to just push him down fans’ throats, and it didn’t work. Reigns was still popular, and he’d get all the main event spots, but he didn’t have one thing: fans’ support. That changed eventually, but it took a lot of years. WWE first started pushing him as a singles star in 2015, and although he spent some time away here and there due to leukemia and Covid-19, Reigns has been consistent in the past few years. From 2015 to 2023, WWE made $8.7 billion, and if we adjust the revenue for inflation in 2023, it comes down to a total of around $10 billion.
