Steve Austin’s Ridiculous Annual Earnings in WWE Revealed

WWE Hall of Famer ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin is one of the most iconic names in the history of professional wrestling and his rise to superstardom is well documented. In fact, he made a ridiculous amount of money during his time at the top of WWE.

Steve Austin was a key figure in starting the Attitude Era and soon became its central star. His influence helped push professional wrestling into mainstream popularity, making it one of the most talked-about forms of entertainment during that period.

While speaking on The Takedown, Kurt Angle revealed how he secured a million-dollar guarantee in WWE after his first year, leveraging his position as world champion to renegotiate his contract.

At that time, only a few top stars—including Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, The Undertaker, and Triple H—had similar guarantees. While the million-dollar contract was significant, wrestlers could earn far more by working full-time at house shows, TV events, pay-per-views, and from merchandise sales.

Angle explained that stars like Austin were at the top, making as much as $16 million a year, thanks to massive merchandise sales, with Austin alone earning around $13 million in merchandise revenue annually.

“What they did is, after my first year, I said, ‘I want a new contract,’ and since I was world champion at the time, they had to make my wishes come true. So, they gave me the million-dollar guarantee, which was the highest guarantee back then.

Now they have higher guarantees, but at that time, only a few people—Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Undertaker, Triple H, a couple others, and me—had million-dollar guarantees. But I made a lot more than that. That’s just your guarantee; if you wrestle full-time at all the house shows, TV shows, and pay-per-views, plus with your merchandise, you can make three, four, or five times your guarantee.

It all depends on who you are and what you’ve accomplished. Someone like Stone Cold Steve Austin was making $16 million a year. He was at the top of the heap because he sold around $13 million in merchandise each year. So, he did extremely well.”

Kurt Angle even previously admitted that he regrets missing out on huge merchandise sales like Steve Austin or John Cena. Nonetheless, many fans feel Steve Austin more than deserved this payday for all he did in professional wrestling and it’s hard to argue against that.

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