Former WWE star Dawn Marie is making more money since joining OnlyFans than she ever did in wrestling.
The 55-year-old star, who rose to fame in Paul Heyman’s gritty ECW promotion in the late 1990s before dazzling WWE fans in the 2000s, has tapped into her old-school fanbase with her latest venture.
The highlight of her WWE career was a racy, soap-opera-style on-screen rivalry with Torrie Wilson, and earlier this month, the so-called First Lady of Professional Wrestling launched her OnlyFans account.
The mum-of-two stepped away from wrestling in 2005 to start a new career as a dementia care nurse, and now she has found another way to supplement her income.
The Daily Mail reports that she is already making more money through OnlyFans than she did in WWE, and she’s even better off when you throw in her earnings as a nurse.
‘People say, “She’s broke, the poor girl, she must be hard up.” Trust me, I’m not,’ she told the outlet, adding that she’s also recently sold one of her homes.
She explained: ‘I’m a nurse by trade and I’ve been a nurse for ten years… And I’m gonna be arrogant, I’m an amazing nurse.’
She will continue nursing part-time after joining OnlyFans, but she stressed it’s not out of financial necessity.
Dawn, who says her children support her career move, is charging fans $12.95 to access her account, but she isn’t offering any sexually explicit content.
She said: ‘I was a stripper in the ’80s when it wasn’t cool, so the sex business isn’t new to me, and I have an idea of what I’m headed into.
‘Do I have some dimples in my ass? Absolutely. Do I look like I did back then? No, who the hell does! And I’m not claiming to.
‘But I’m proud of who I am, and I’m proud that I kept my body strong. I was hardcore in ECW, and I’ll continue to be hardcore after.’
Part of Dawn’s motivation for joining the platform is a serious neck injury she’s been dealing with for years now.
It’s left her worried about how long she can carry on working full time, particularly as she gets older.
‘I’m in a lot of pain all of the time with my neck, so I thought that maybe I should prepare for my future,’ she added. ‘There’s nothing wrong with having a little extra. I’m a single mom, I have two kids and college is around the corner, so why not?’
Dawn’s most recent WWE appearance came in November 2024, when she returned for the first time in almost 20 years as a special guest referee for a Hardcore Match between Jaida Parker and Lola Vice.
Fans heaped praise on her ageless appearance as she stepped out at the 2300 Arena, the original home of ECW, for a special episode of NXT.
Meanwhile, the financial benefits of Dawn’s OnlyFans move shouldn’t be a surprise, given Mandy Rose’s past comments about the ‘life-changing’ money she pulled in.
And TNA Wrestling star Elayna Black, formerly known as Cora Jade in WWE, revealed earlier this year that her time on the platform was similarly lucrative.
The 25-year-old wrestler exclusively told Metro back in March: ‘I had never seen income like that before… I’m not touching it right now, but it’s there for the future.’
Elayna shrugged off any backlash she might get after embracing OnlyFans.
‘I’m very much someone who thinks that women should be able to do what they want with their bodies,’ she said. ‘People are gonna sexualise and objectify you, no matter what. It’s sh***y to say, and it sucks that it is that way.
‘But if I’m able to make an OnlyFans and post pictures and get paid to do so, why would I not do that?’