Felix Upton on October 6, 2021
Jim Ross is a veteran of the pro wrestling business and he has worn many hats in the industry, including head of talent relations for WWE back in the 90s. He knows all about talent contracts and what went on behind-the-scenes. That is what made his take so valuable during Dark Side of the Ring’s Plane Ride From Hell episode. He recently disclosed exactly what kind of deal Edge and Christian had when they signed with WWE.
Edge makes a very high paycheck from WWE now, but it wasn’t that way in 1998 when he inked his first deal. During Grilling JR, the WWE Hall of Fame announcer revealed that Edge and Christian were only making $210 each per week. It’s hard to believe that was enough to cover their travel at the time.
“Edge just exuded charisma. It’s natural. You can’t teach ‘it’, you can’t feel it, touch it, smell it. We talked about that before. He had ‘it’, and you can’t produce ‘it’. ‘It’ is in your DNA, so to speak.”
“You know that the first contract I signed these two cats, Edge and Christian, I had no idea how the hell I got this number, but they were making $210 a week and they were happy to get it. Because we knew that it wouldn’t be long before that number became just a memory.”
“Budgets and things like that. They’ve been around the Indies and Ontario for quite some time. So, I just felt like they were going to be or could be our next big thing.”
Obviously, Edge and Christian’s next deals with WWE were substantially better. It just goes to show that if you’re following your dream then you must start somewhere, even if that means taking a deal that is drastically lower than you’re worth. The trick is to excel at that job and convince those higher-ups that you’re worth far more. That is exactly what E&C did as the eventually reeked of awesomeness.
What’s your take on this story? Sound off in the comments!
Thanks to Fightful for the quote
October 6, 2021 6:03 pm
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