A missed opportunity with WWE ultimately helped shape Thunder Rosa’s career, with the former AEW Women’s World Champion revealing she once came close to signing with the company in a very different role.
Speaking with Real 92.3 LA, Thunder Rosa recalled being offered a referee position in WWE in 2019, including a reported $60,000 annual salary. At the time, she admitted the offer was difficult to ignore given the financial instability of life on the independent circuit.
“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.”
Rosa explained that after leaving a stable job to pursue wrestling full-time, she was relying heavily on both her own efforts and outside support, which eventually became exhausting.
“I was hustling all the time and I was tired. After seven years, you’re like, man, I need a job or something.”
The financial aspect of WWE’s offer stood out at the time.
“They offered me like $60,000 a year, which at the time it was better than what I was making,” she said.
Thunder Rosas Explains Why WWE Referee Role Never Happened
However, the opportunity never materialised. Thunder Rosa revealed that repeated delays to her scheduled tryout, caused in part by a hurricane, ultimately stalled the process completely.
“There was a hurricane that happened and then they just kept pushing my tryout and then it never happened. But it was meant to be that way.”
Rather than continuing to wait, Rosa pivoted, choosing to explore mixed martial arts despite a significantly lower financial offer.
“That’s when I made the decision to jump into MMA, because they offered me a $3,000 contract,” she said.
The decision proved pivotal. Rosa went on to build her reputation in the NWA before signing with AEW, where she later captured the AEW Women’s World Championship. Looking back, the near-miss with WWE stands as a turning point that ultimately led her down a path to greater success.
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