I would not take a pay cut to fly a B-777 nor would I turn down a pay raise to fly a C-152.
The fundamental nature of employment is service for recompense. The type of equipment the employer provides for your job is immaterial. A construction worker cares only about his pay and benefits, not about whether he operates the big crane or the back hoe. A taxi-cab driver would prefer to drive the Lincoln, but will gladly drive the Chevy if it pays more.
Airline CEOs base their pay on what they can negotiate, not on whether or not their company flies RJs, 737s, or A-380s. I've never heard Brian Bedford refer to himself as an RJ CEO.
The pilot unions' fixation on equipment type resulted in the regional whipsaw that has transferred billions of dollars from labor to management over the past couple of decades. Shiny Jet Syndrome is a pervasive cancer in this profession. We've let how big and how shiny an airplane is disrupt the economic principles of supply/demand and qualification/experience in determining pay rates and "status."