Thunder Rosa has revealed that WWE offered her a $60,000 annual contract to become a referee in 2019, a deal that ultimately never materialized after her tryout was repeatedly postponed. Speaking with Real 92.3 LA, Rosa explained the circumstances surrounding the offer and the financial pressures she was facing at the time, which made the WWE proposal genuinely appealing.
“In 2019, they called me and they were like, are you ready to hang up the boots?” Rosa said. “I needed money. I needed steady money because, brother, being an independent professional wrestler, when you’re talking about hustle, it’s a hustle. I had a job when I was in the Bay Area, but when I decided to do wrestling full time I was depending on my ex-husband and my hustle. I was hustling all the time and I was tired. Like hustling after seven years, you’re like, man, I need a job or something.”
Rosa said the offer itself was enough to get her attention. “They offered me like $60,000 a year, which at the time it was like, all right, it’s better than what I was making,” Rosa said.
However, the path to signing the deal was derailed by circumstances beyond her control. “There was a hurricane that happened and then they just keep pushing my tryout and then it never happened,” Rosa said. “But it was meant to be that way.”
The collapsed WWE deal proved to be the turning point that redirected Rosa’s career entirely. Rather than waiting any longer, she made the decision to pursue mixed martial arts, albeit for a fraction of the money WWE had offered.
“That’s when I made the decision to jump into MMA, because they offered me a $3,000 contract,” Rosa said.
Thunder Rosa went on to become a notable name in the NWA, eventually signing with AEW where she captured the AEW Women’s World Championship. tands as one of the more compelling stories of perseverance in recent wrestling history.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Real 92.3 LA with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
