Paul Walter Hauser on His Wrestling Pay “Differs Based On The Company”

A recent episode of the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast featured actor and indies wrestler Paul Walter Hauser as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Hauser’s thoughts about his wrestling pay rate and how it depends on the promotion he is working for.

“My pay differs based on the company too. If I were to do something with TNA, and they were like, hey, come do a match with A.J. Francis — or a tag match — you’re gonna be paired with The Rascalz against three heels. I would want 10 grand for that match, because, to me, you’re also getting eyeballs and press and whatever else comes with it, and I’m going to go out of my way to make it as good as it possibly can be, at the risk of hurting myself. But if ACTION Wrestling down in Georgia is like, ‘Hey, do you want to come fight, take an L to Adam Priest, or tag with your buddy Darian Bengston?’ I’m not going to charge them more than three or 400 bucks. I still got to drive down there and drive back. I don’t know if I’m selling merch or not. I don’t know if they’re not going to have catering. There’s X amount of things that you give up to just wrestle and have fun.”

Hauser also gave his thoughts about the reason why he wrestles because he loves it just like he acts because he loves it. Hauser also stated that it is tricky for him to get more reps in because of his busy schedule.

“So it’s tricky, but I do hope to get to a point where I can be in the ring and work a little more safely. I’ve never hurt anybody else in the ring. I’m proud of that, but I have hurt myself two or three times and that sucks.”

Hauser also gave his thoughts about his goal for his wrestling career is to have a legacy where his body of work blows past what other celebrity wrestlers have done.

“I care too much about wrestling and have way too much pride that I want to go off ladders, go through tables, go through thumbtacks, get piledriven by Adam Priest in Vegas. Those are things that have happened. And I’m proud of that and I hold myself to a standard, not that I’m ever going to be as good as a Kyle O’Reilly or something. I’m not an idiot. I’m not Kyle Fletcher.

But I’m also more than ready to say when my run is done, whether that’s in two years or 10, I guarantee if someone is looking at statistics on paper and they’re being logistical and realistic, there is no way in hell they’re going to say that Bad Bunny and… Pat McAfee, Bad Bunny, and say Stephen Amell, like, I’m going to blow past them if I haven’t already for some people. And that doesn’t mean I have something against them. It just means like, this is competition. I’m playing for keeps. I’m trying to make an impact. I’m trying to get eyeballs on the product. It’s not a cameo where I just kind of pop in and pop out and make a bag of money. It’s real.”

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com