Colt Cabana, who currently performs in the ROH roster and is one of the most recognized stars in AEW and ROH, claims that he made ten times more money on the independent circuit than during his time in WWE.
When he signed with WWE in 2007, Cabana was a relatively unknown wrestler. He joined Smackdown on August 15th, 2008, under the name Scotty Goldman and was mainly used as enhancement talent.
However, things did not work out for Cabana in WWE, and the company released him in February 2009. After that, he created his brand by performing in various promotions such as ROH, PWG, NWA, and NJPW.
“I knew it was an investment in my future. That’s the only place you can make millions of dollars, so I went to OVW for a year [and] I got over… I wasn’t set up to have the best situation [when I got called up to the main roster,] so I had six matches of losing very quickly. [But] it led to the most success I’ve ever had in my career, which was my post-WWE career [where], I made ten times what I made in WWE.”
There is speculation that CM Punk and Colt Cabana may perform together again if Punk returns in time for AEW Collision. Nevertheless, Cabana is pleased that he took a risk on himself following his release from WWE.