If something is worth having, it doesn’t come cheap. WWE and Vince McMahon found that to be the case on numerous occasions when dealing with pro wrestlers. The top talent in the industry know their market value and aren’t going to work for anything less than top dollar.
Particularly in the nineties, when WCW and WWF were going at it, wrestlers had considerable leverage to negotiate the very best deals. Even now in the 2000’s, there are wrestlers like the The Briscoe Brothers who turned down WWE NXT because they could make more money (and for far less dates) in their indie bookings and personal business.
But on the much bigger scale, there’s been talents who WWE simply couldn’t afford. Top level guys who were proven draws and demanded to be paid as such. Sometimes Vince McMahon stretched his accountant to make a deal with these guys, whereas other times he just wasn’t able to do business.
The list of guys who WWE couldn’t afford, or at least couldn’t afford full time, is reflective of just how big a superstar can become. A wrestler can truly transcend the confines of the traditional wrestler contract if they get over in the mainstream. Other times, it is more of a case of a wrestler being savvy enough to negotiate a deal way beyond what they’re actually worth.
There’s been several times when Vince McMahon just had to say “I can’t afford that.”
10. Bob Sapp – Salary Expectations $1 Million And Part Time Schedule
It seems like a lifetime ago now, but Bob Sapp was a humongous star in the mid 2000’s. He was over like crazy in Japan, where he fought in MMA at the same time as working in pro wrestling. Such was the level of his fame, that he appeared in a range of japanese media, including his very own CD release.
9. Sting – Salary Expectations $1.25 Million, Part Time Schedule, Creative Control
Helping him stay so well paid was his close personal friendship with Eric Bischoff, who in that time was known as ATM Eric for the lavish contracts he dished out. Ted Turner was also a fan of the Stinger and appreciated him as a figurehead of major league southern wrestling.
8. Scott Hall – Salary Expectations $750,000 In 1996, $1.6 Million In 1999
As one of the upper mid card to main event stars, Hall wasn’t too thrilled with that sum, and he’d actually earned about $400,000 in 1994. None too happy with going backwards, he made a deal with WCW, thought to be in the range of $750,000.
McMahon wasn’t willing to match that, basically because he couldn’t afford it. WCW was paying way over the usual industry rate, and the WWF were in a dire financial state. They really couldn’t afford to keep Hall, so off he went in 1996 to Atlanta.
By 1999, he had been smart enough to extract a deal for $1.6 million a year from WCW. He really didn’t deserve it based upon his well documented issues, but he was always a razor sharp deal maker. However, that money was cut by 50% due to his time out of action. It goes without saying, $1.6 million was way beyond what McMahon could have afforded to offer.
7. Kevin Nash – Salary Expectations $750,000 In 1996, $1.6 Million And Creative Control In 1999
By 1999, he’d established himself as (just behind Hulk Hogan) the most powerful pro wrestler in WCW. He was booking the company and also working as a wrestler, unsurprisingly making himself the main events. He did this while pocketing an improved salary of $1.6 million. While McMahon always wanted to bring Nash back, he simply couldn’t afford to offer that kind of money and creative control to the star.
Especially when you consider what a miserable job Nash did as WCW booker, there was no way that McMahon was going to make him a deal that gave any creative input. He eventually re-signed the big man on a $700,000 wrestler deal in 2002.
6. Bret Hart – Salary Expectations $1.5 Million And Creative Control
On September 22nd 1997, McMahon outright told Hart that he couldn’t afford to pay the deal. He actually encouraged him to contact WCW and see what he could get.
The rest is history. Hart got a $3 million a year deal out of WCW, which the WWF definitely couldn’t afford to match. The mutually agreed exit was all set, but then there was the issue of Hart being WWF Champion. You know how that story ends!
5. Randy Savage – Salary Expectations $425,000 And Creative Control In 1994
He left the WWF in November of that year, with Vince McMahon taking the unusual step of addressing it on WWF television. He emotionally relayed the fact that the WWF and Savage hadn’t been able to come to terms on a new contract.
It was partly an issue of creative control, as Savage had wanted to work a major run with Shawn Michaels. But Vince McMahon didn’t want that, instead he wanted to head in a “new generation” direction.
Things became impossible when WCW came in and offered Savage $425,000 and a wrestling role. McMahon couldn’t afford to pay Savage that sum, not for what had become a mostly announcing gig.
4. Goldberg – Salary Expectations $2 Million And Reduced Schedule
The megastar of the southern brand was on a cool $2 million per a year, benefiting from the fact that he was the only real star WCW ever produced.
The other thing about Goldberg, is that he never wanted to take a full time schedule on. In WCW he had been used to a cushy schedule compared to the WWF’s regular shows. He was rich enough, and a big enough star, to reason that the WWF would only be worth it if the money was high and the dates were low.
As a result, McMahon and Goldberg didn’t get a deal done in 2001. McMahon couldn’t afford to pay a WCW guy $2 million, it would have created a riot in the locker room. Instead, Goldberg ended up taking time out from the business, then went to Japan to work a few dates for All Japan.
Eventually, WWE and Goldberg reached a compromise in 2003. He would come in for $1 million (half of what he’d been on in WCW) but would have a lighter schedule that was mostly television and pay per view dates. He signed, provoking a monstrous resentment in the WWE locker room! One year later, he was gone.
3. Hulk Hogan – Salary Expectations $10 Million And Creative Control With Reduced Schedule
When Hulk Hogan went to WCW in 1994, Vince McMahon actually had the contractual right to match whatever offer WCW made and keep his big star. The thing was, Ted Turner was offering $300,000 per a match, 25 percent of PPV revenue above the WCW average, 25 percent of house show revenue for the few non-televised dates Hogan would work, and 65 percent of all merchandise revenue. McMahon couldn’t afford to offer that, so Hogan went south.
Then in early 1998, he was considering jumping back to the WWF. There was an idea floated to him that he’d head up D Generation X and pass the torch to the mega hot Steve Austin at WrestleMania 14, according to Bruce Prichard and Eric Bischoff on Talk Is Jericho.
But to go to the WWF, Vince McMahon was going to have to pay Hogan astronomical money. The Hulkster’s WCW deal was complicated, with $600,000 per a PPV and $25,000 per a tv appearance. Linked to that were a whole range of bonuses for PPV buys and merchandise sales. He had creative control as well, which allowed him to be the top star in the company.
McMahon couldn’t offer any of that. All in all, Hogan was pocketing about $10 million in WCW, a sum that the WWF couldn’t and wouldn’t want to pay for one individual talent. Especially when that talent was already way past their prime. Hogan has claimed that the WWF offered him $5 million to return, but only he knows if that is true or not.
2. Brock Lesnar – Salary Expectations For Full Time $20 Million
That’s based on the idea that his current limited dates would add up to one WWE quarter, about four matches a year with regular appearances around them, which he earns $5 million for. Multiplied by four, that’s $20 million. So maybe McMahon could have Brock year round, but only if he was prepared to pay him a cool $20,000,000 – something which he can’t afford to do.
Indeed, he’s already arguably paying too much for the megastar. As big as Brock is, he’s a very expensive luxury. Five million for a few shows a year is the envy of the WWE locker room, and keep in mind that Brock’s presence barely impacted the SummerSlam Network subscriptions last year.
1. The Rock – Salary Expectations For Full Time $52 Million
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Instead, WWE utilise Rock on a part time deal. It is expected that he’ll headline WrestleMania 32 against Triple H, in a match that will be largely responsible for the show drawing. For that he could expect $5 million, maybe more. WWE are more than happy to do business on that part time basis at that level of money, as evidenced by the deal that they have Lesnar on.
But just imagine how big WWE would be if it had both Brock and Rock full time. It would be epic for the fans, but unfortunately the combined $72 million cost is something Vince McMahon would never pay for two wrestlers!
