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We've all heard about the figures and wage packets that wrestlers like JBL, Cena, Austin and HHH earn, but is life as appealing for the smaller stars in the WWE? I guess we all just assume that they do extremely well for themselves as well.

I would suggest, then, that you read on and let me show you nothing can be further from that assumption.

Most wrestlers in the WWE today are making a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year (or in the case of some superstars, a little under that or considerably less), which can be very good when you think about it, but I have spoken to fans who have assumed that they are earning more than a million dollars a year.

Now subtract taxes, personal expenses and travel expenses (something that the WWE does not pay for) and the numbers aren't as appealing anymore, are they?

The average developmental contract is $75,000-100,000 a year for new talent. From that, take your usual tax deductions, and if they net $50,000 after those deductions, consider themselves lucky. Then comes the expenses of daily living, as well as the majority of those on the roster have to pay for their hotels, rental cars, flights, and all other expenses that come with traveling to and from shows.

In other areas, you're making around 2000 to 3000 dollars a week, forced to job because of politics, work regularly at house shows and wrestle on Heat webcasts and at the end of every week, you're left bruised and battered; hardly the luxurious life that so many of us perceive it to be.

Now this is where things get serious. You're in a match and you blow a move and then next thing you know, you require surgery and you're out of action for a year. Suddenly, that $2500 a week drops to about $300-$500 a week, because the WWE is only going to pay your "downside" wage when you're hurt.

You've gone from upper middle class status with a mortgage, car payments, a family, and decent medical insurance to working class with a mortgage, car payments, a family, and medical bills that your insurance, as good as it is, can't fully pay off. At $2500 a week, these expenses aren't that bad, but at $500 a week, they're a big deal.

After a while, you either have to HOPE that the WWE will give you some sort of non-wrestling job while you're recuperating so they'll pay you more, or you're just going to have to fight through your pain and try to get back into the ring as soon as possible.

Now during this stage, a wrestler usually goes down one of the following three paths. They can just give up,

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