I have all the specifics in old newsletters e.g.
Hogan's contract guarantees him six PPV per year with a minimum PPV payoff in the mid-six figures. Add in his $25,000 per TV appearance fee, and his annual salary is in the $5-$10 million range. WCW is on pace to lose between $60-80 million this year, and ten percent of that is from Hogan's salary, which Bischoff negotiated and which WCW cannot get out of. The only incentive clause in the deal was that if PPV buyrates exceeded a certain point, Hogan would get additional money. PPV buyrates are nowhere near that bonus range at this point. Earlier this year Hogan had a dispute with WCW management over merchandising money owed to him and received several million in backpay that he proved he was owed. Many within WCW believe that Hogan pushed hard for Siegel to bring Bischoff back because Hogan found out under Bill Busch that WCW was going to pay wrestlers their market value with incentives built in based on whether they actually contributed to WCW's success. Hogan's only chance at another similar deal was if Bischoff were in charge and went to bat for him come contract renewal time.
Here readers digest version:
- Macho Man Randy Savage contract expired in January 2000
- Rowdy Roddy Piper contract was terminated in July 2000
- Hulk Hogan wasn't used after July 2000 because WCW wanted to save money
- Bret Hart's contract was terminated by WCW in October 2000
- Scott Hall was fired by WCW in October 2000
All the guys above were making at least $1 million per year.
I know for a fact Goldberg, Kevin Nash, Sting, Diamond Dallas Page & Lex Luger were all making over $1 million a year.
Everybody had different deals. Randy Savage usually signed a 1 year $1 million contract every year. Diamond Dallas Page signed a $1.5 million a year deal however it was leaked to the dirtsheets that it was ony $950,000 so he would get as much heat from the boys. Rowdy Roddy Piper contract was structured similar to Hulk Hogan's.
Goldberg & Kevin Nash had contracts were they would make $1 million first year, $1.5 million second year & $2 million in 3rd year (making these numbers up but they are very similar however I can't be bothered to got through 1000's of old newsletters).
The likes of Ric Flair, Scott Steiner, Rick Steiner, Buff Bagwell, Jeff Jarrett, Booker T, Stevie Ray were making between $400,000 to $750,000 per year (probably increased each year like Goldberg & Kevin Nash) which over 3 years would equal well over $1 million.
Not sure about Sid Vicious but he was no doubt making good money.
Like I said I have all the numbers & as much as I would like to, I don't have time to go back through thousand of old newsletters copying & pasting the details.
I'll leave you with a controversial piece (at the time) from PWTorch printed in November 1998 (because it was easy to find):
One key for WCW to survive and thrive for the next few years is to lock up talent that they have invested television time in the last few years. Just over a month ago they re-signed Sting to a multi–year deal. Just over a week ago they resigned Dallas Page to a multi–year deal that puts him into the top tier in terms of pay, but not quite into the Million Dollar Club. Except for Rey Misterio Jr, all of the top luchadors have been signed to multi–year deals, including Konnan and Juventud Guerrero. Juventud just signed a three–year deal for around $200,000 per year (he was seeking $240,000). According to documentation obtained by the TORCH, the next seven wrestlers WCW has made a top priority to re-sign are Scott Steiner, Rick Steiner, Giant, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, and Chris Benoit. Vince McMahon has expressed to some an interest in signing Scott Steiner. McMahon, besides being a “mark” for muscular physiques, grew up watching Superstar Billy Graham, the wrestler Scott is currently emulating. Scott is currently making $315,000 a year and WCW has pegged $500,000 per year for three years as what they’ll offer to keep him. There’s no indication whether Scott would jump to the WWF without Rick, although Rick and Eric Bischoff went hunting together last week and are friends. The contract figures regarding Rick Steiner are the same as Scott’s. Both of their current contracts expire on Nov. 30. At least up until a couple of weeks ago, there had not been intense negotiations, so WCW may not be making the Steiners a priority, or else they assume the WWF wouldn’t be interested in them.
Giant’s current contract, which pays him $400,000 a year, expires on Feb. 9, 1999. WCW has pegged their offer to him at $850,000, $950,000, and $1,000,000 for each of the next three years. Many in the industry assume there already has been an under–the–table agreement between Giant and the WWF. Seemingly the WWF would have to offer Giant somewhere over $700,000 per year as a downside guarantee over five years to get him to turn down WCW’s big guaranteed money. The WWF, though, recently signed Rocky Maivia to what sources say was less than $500,000 per year as a downside guarantee (which means he will likely make more if business is good and he stays healthy). Hunter Hearst Helmsley, whose deal expires late next year, is currently negotiating with the WWF for a renewal, and his first offers have apparently been well below $500,000 per year. Does the WWF covet Giant enough to break the $500,000 barrier for him, moving him into the category of Undertaker and Steve Austin. They’ll have to in order to sign him, and most believe they will. Eddie Guerrero is getting a decent push as the LWO leader despite not having renewed his contract, which expires Jan. 1, 1999. His current deal pays him $250,000 a year and WCW is apparently prepared to up him to $450,000 a year for three years. Chris Jericho’s contract, which pays $225,000, expires July 27, 1999. WCW is looking to offer him the same deal as Guerrero—around $450,000 a year for three years. Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko both make $250,000 a year and both of their deals expire Dec. 31, 1999. With over a year left on their contracts, re-signing them isn’t as urgent. According to the documentation, WCW is looking to also offer them three–years deal at $450,000 each.
Despite the low morale that tends to come with working for WCW (especially for mid–carders who are asked to work more house show dates than the main eventers), the WWF isn’t without its risks. While Vince McMahon sells wrestlers on the “downside guarantees” being only a “worst case scenario,” wrestlers are always suspicious that his payoffs for house shows and PPVs are more based around “keeping pace with the downside figures” and not truly reflective of how well business is going. SummerSlam checks were received by wrestlers last week. While Steve Austin and Undertaker were taken care of with payoffs as high as $500,000 for one match, the rest of the wrestlers received much smaller checks. The payoffs for the ladder match, right before the main event, were under $50,000, which shows a continuation of McMahon’s pattern of having great discrepancies between main event payouts and undercard payouts. He has a rep for taking great pride in writing big checks for his main events. (One Wrestlemania he bragged about paying Hulk Hogan $1 million. The next Wrestlemania, even though business was down, he paid Hogan $1.1 million just to top the previous year’s payoff.) The third–from–the–top match at SummerSlam paid $25,000 (Outlaws vs. Mankind), and payouts went down in $5,000 increments from there, as low as $15,000 or $10,000 for a show that grossed over $6 million (which is split about in half with cable companies). With around $300,000 going to the entire undercard and upwards of $750,000 to $1 million going to the main event, just over $1 million of the $3 million gross (not even counting the $750,000 live gate) was paid out to the talent—and in a disproportionate fashion. Besides question marks surrounding the fairness of WWF payoffs and whether they truly reflect how strong business has been lately, there is always the risk of being injured. Inactive wrestlers have little chance to make more than their downside guarantee, which is usually lower than their market value since wrestlers are sold on what a strong upside potential there is if business goes well. If the WWF gains a reputation—deserved or not—for paying just a tad over downside guarantees even when business is thriving, they may have a tougher time getting some of WCW’s upcoming potential free agents to roll the dice with smaller downsider guarantees compared to WCW’s higher guarantees.
The discrepancies in pay between main eventers and mid-carders aren’t reserved for the WWF. WCW is paying Hall and Nash $1.1 million in 1998 and 1999, $1.45 million in 2000, and $1.625 million in 2001. Bret Hart is making over $2 million per year and Hogan is making over $3 million per year. Sting is also in the Million Dollar Club. The talent jumps between the WWF and WCW had slowed down in recent months, but now the WWF has a chance to acquire big names from WCW over the next few months (Giant, Scott Steiner, Rick Steiner, Eddie Guerrero, Wrath, Rey Misterio Jr.) and by the end of next year (Jericho, Benoit, Malenko). WCW has a chance, also, to reacquire Hunter and Jeff Jarrett, among others, late next year when their contracts expire. The Monday Night Ratings have shown that only the top few wrestlers are able to pop big numbers, but there are signs that second–tier wrestlers with main event potential (Scott Steiner, Ken Shamrock, X–Pac, New Age Outlaws, etc.) can pop stronger than average ratings when they are given a decent push. The market price for mid-carders is higher than ever and a lot of wrestlers may think the grass will be greener on the other side. If money offers are similar, the second–tier and mid-card wrestlers are likely to choose to sign with the company that will provide them with the best opportunity to reach their potential and be in a position to demand top tier pay when their contracts come due three–to–five years later.
