Steph De Lander and her husband Mance Warner have officially parted ways with TNA Wrestling. In an interview with Shawn Ross Sapp for Fightful, De Lander lifted the curtain on the financial and logistical frustrations that led to his sudden exit.
The former TNA star revealed that the majority of the TNA roster is no longer on a traditional salary. This is due to their transition to a “pay-per-appearance” model, which leaves talent vulnerable to sudden scheduling changes.
De Lander explained that under the current management structure, wrestlers only get paid when they appear and are used at tapings. This “day rate” system can lead to financial instability if the artist is left out of the loop or if tapings are infrequent.
De Lander said that although some long-working talent may still be on old salary-based contracts, the new standard at the company is a lack of guaranteed income. This is something that can cause problems.
“As far as I’m aware, most talent are not on salary. They’re on pay-per-appearance, which basically means if you book for the day, you get paid whatever your rate is… It’s not a traditional weekly salary pay check. If they don’t book you you could go for months without getting paid,” De Lander said.
The final breakthrough for the couple reportedly came during preparation for the upcoming TNA Sacrifice and Impact tapings in New Orleans, scheduled for March 27–28 at the Alario Center. De Lander revealed that he and Warner were initially booked for both days, but received an email at the last minute informing them that they only needed one day. Because independent wrestlers often plan their months around these dates and refuse outside bookings in order to remain available to TNA, such changes can have a financial impact.
“Even for the next week’s taping in New Orleans, we were told we were on both of those… then I got an email that we were only needed for one day. That was part of the thing that made me think like, ‘Okay… I’m unbooked for one day,’ which again also means you’re not getting paid for one of those days,” she continued.
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