Thunder Rosa says WWE once tried to hire her as a referee for a steady salary. She turned down the path that would have taken her out of the ring, and later became a top star in AEW.
WWE Offer and a Delayed Tryout
Rosa revealed in an interview on Real 92.3 LA that WWE called her in 2019 and asked if she was “ready to hang up the boots.” The company offered her a job as an official with a salary of about $60,000 a year.
She said the pay was better than what she was making on the independents and that it sounded like steady work after years of hustling. “I needed money, you know? I needed steady money because, brother, being an independent professional wrestler… it’s a hustle,” Rosa said on the show.
She planned to try out, but a hurricane and other delays pushed the tryout back. The tryout never happened, and no deal went through. Rosa said she believes it worked out for the best.
Life as an Independent Wrestler
Before AEW, Rosa fought hard to build her wrestling career. She worked other jobs while traveling for shows in the Bay Area and beyond. She has said she depended on both her ex-husband and constant hustling when she moved to full-time wrestling.
Rosa explained that after seven years of nonstop work on the independent scene, she was tired and needed something steady. At the time, an annual $60,000 offer felt like real security compared with the uncertainty of independent bookings.
AEW Success and Looking Back
Instead of the WWE referee role, Rosa later joined AEW. She became AEW Women’s World Champion and had a high-profile feud with Britt Baker between 2020 and 2022. Injuries have slowed her down in recent years, but she remains an important figure in AEW history.
Rosa says the path she took — staying in the ring — turned out well. She reflected that the missed WWE tryout and the choice to continue wrestling led to the major moments in her career.
What She Said
Rosa spoke openly in the Real 92.3 LA interview about the offer and her feelings at the time. She told the host she considered the WWE role because it promised stability, but she was relieved the tryout never came together. “They offered me like $60,000 a year… and then they just kept pushing my tryout and then it never happened. But it was meant to be that way,” she said.
Quotes in this article are from Real 92.3 LA.
