Eric Bischoff SHOOTS On ‘Outrageous’ WCW Salaries!

[@InsideTheRopes]

Which company do you think would have been better to work for during the Monday Night Wars - WCW or WWF? Let us know in the comments below!

[@fherrivera951]

I think wwe had better talent at that time!

[@undertakernumberone1]

WWF for general exposure and partaking in the AE WCW for sitting at home with a guaranteed contract.

[@NickRiddle-rz9zd]

@@undertakernumberone1You’re not wrong but you’re characterizing that as them being lazy. It was just that the WWF schedule was just so brutal. WCW’s schedule was more of a normalized schedule although still hard work.

[@MilMaska]

"Captain Lou, that said to me. Kid, there are only two things real in wrestling. The money and the miles" - Kevin Nash

[@Syfcobra8549]

I will ad a 3rd The injuries!

[@curthennig9448]

@@Syfcobra8549 And a fourth: The ring rats!

[@rubenarriaga3029]

@@Syfcobra8549 in a way miles meant on the road and on the body

[@brillbillbutstill]

I love listening to this kinda shit. It puts my childhood into a strange perspective

[@AdamHorne-ri9lk]

I agree bro it' like takes me to my child it calms me down wen im stressed,and Its lilethats what was really going on wen I was a kid lol.wen I found out it "predetermined"I fell in love with it even more bro ,i wanted to know how everything worked lol.my 2 missed calling in life being in the wrestling business(a manger or a agent lol) and being a music producer/Dj lmaoo

[@perfectblindguy]

JJ Dillon has stated that payroll was way too high for any company.

[@eddiew2325]

higher than ecw? thats cap

[@POPToppins]

​@@eddiew2325ecw barely paid there wrestlers there dickrider

[@drexlspivey5828]

Kevin Nash said he would have stayed if Vince had matched the WCW offer, but he also said that working half the schedule was a huge selling point so who knows what's true

[@46st]

I really believe Us Kliq not bias just in the comments saying his stories Eric OG story keeps changing Triple H is my guy so Idk I would like to hear the truth tho lol Take Care God Bless

[@qweasdzxcname]

@@46st i dont believe wwe when they talk about wcw by default. wwe hates wcw. part of their revenge is to bury their legacy. on the other hand, eric, like all of the wrestling world, is putting himself over by saying different stuff. so you cant always believe him either, BUT, he is the closest source to the truth. he is the only one who understands the contracts and behind the scenes and storytelling and the whys of wcw.

[@qweasdzxcname]

kevin nash only knows what is written in his contract. he isnt aware of the other sources of income eric bischoff was talking about here. but again, as a member of the wrestling world, its hard to believe eric either, so we will probably never know the truth.

[@CaptainHowdy-fn9dy]

Nash said that WCW offered him triple his WWF salary to jump over. Why can't Bischoff just admit that he frivolously spent a billionaire's money in order to lure talent over?

[@curthennig9448]

Because as usual he doesn't want to look bad.

[@toddsmods.623]

Well Nash said it must be gospel 😂😂

[@SolidSonicTH]

You have to look at this as two different categories of pay. Nash had a salary attached to his contract I'm sure but WWF's entire business model is built on selling wrestling. Ticket sales, PPV buys, and merch sales. The wrestlers working for WWF had to draw to earn money and the better you drew the better you got paid over the guarantee. So the earning cap was way higher but could also be unstable and potentially bad in a bad year (and 1995 is, with very little doubt, a bad year). Nash said he had conversations with Vince where he couldn't get Vince to settle on what he should expect to earn through the next loop of shows because of how down business was. Meanwhile WCW is just a television product of Turner Broadcasting. It's not making money strictly on what it can do at the show but via advertising revenue for the parent company. So they were absolutely in a better position to offer strong guarantees for their talent, even if said talent couldn't really make any money beyond the guarantee due to WCW lacking those revenue streams. But at a time when WWF couldn't give good guaranteed payouts that's a strong argument.

[@NoneofYabiz-rx3zi]

200k times 3 is? Around 200k is what Scott was earning in WWF

[@qweasdzxcname]

@@SolidSonicTH i think a good example is the salary of successful sitcom actors. on friends, each actor made a million dollar per episode on the last few seasons. its 20 million a season per actor. 120m just for 1 season.

[@TheHannibalTV]

Compared to what AEW pays talent to do virtually nothing WCW was conservative in their pay

[@andrewtadross]

The issue isn't just the contracts, it's the bulk of your money going towards older stars while letting go of the younger guys who ultimately put a dagger in WCW by performing in wwf

[@handofgod2000]

They made a smart move. 300 days is insane. Vince is a cheap greedy individual. Scott and Kevin made more money in lesser time. Real talk

[@rolltide9547]

Flair did 365 a years for 20 years. Reason 1135 why he is the GOAT.

[@handofgod2000]

@rolltide9547 yea because he was addicted to that life plus he was cheating on his wife all the time. He cared about himself more than his own family. He also is a egotistical man who couldn't retire.

[@rolltide9547]

@@handofgod2000 Nobody gave more to the business than Flair.

[@handofgod2000]

@@rolltide9547 your right. 50 years of dedication.

[@rolltide9547]

@@handofgod2000 He is not the father of the year. But what he did from about 1975-2008 makes him the goat.

[@onephatdude]

There's Bischoff pissing on our boots and saying "it's raining again." I mean he's not wrong that the travel is brutal in wrestling. Especially back in the territory days and when the WWF began taking over in the 90s. But come on man... quit beating around the bush. He finally says "yes we paid some guys more than what they are worth." He finally admits and explains things well towards the end. 😂

[@fherrivera951]

Thar was a crazy schedule,if you have family it's no bueno🥺

[@Savvage.875]

It still is the same schedule for wwe..

[@rolltide9547]

None of those guys kept the schedule Flair did.

[@hartiwanger9176]

Same as long haul freight drivers.

[@fherrivera951]

@@hartiwanger9176 true to that!

[@SolidSonicTH]

Well you also have to remember that in 1995 WWF was also in a dire position and the money they WERE making in WWF was going down all the time. Houses were low, shows were getting cancelled, etc. Since most guys work paysheets (especially when they're at the top of the card like Diesel) they make their money on ticket sales, card position, and merch and when business is down they pull in low numbers. Nash made it known in his own shoots that Vince couldn't hit a number for him when asked "what is the next run of shows looking like for my financials?" When your boss can't even answer a basic question like that (and when he's speaking to the person holding the top championship, no less) and Turner is scouting with guaranteed numbers attached it's a pretty easy decision. Even if the pay isn't AS good at least it's a fixed guarantee and that can mean a lot (especially if you're still paying your way to make it between shows as wrestlers do; raking in low houses while spending THAT much time on the road is debilitating).

[@qweasdzxcname]

apparently jeff jarrett worked for free in the wwf. the wwf owed him at least 300k.

[@SolidSonicTH]

@@qweasdzxcname I thought he just bilked them for that. He said it was supposedly owed but that may have just been his way of covering his ass.

[@qweasdzxcname]

@@SolidSonicTH he said he never intentioned to steal the belt and he claimed wcw was too hectic. he said the wwe owed him amount that he estimated to be at least 300k. logically, it can only mean one thing. he worked for free because the wwf was losing money at the time. according to jeff, its mostly just another wrestling rumor that is much bigger than the reality.

[@trevorlahey4178]

You paid them that money wdym outrageous? That was your entire strategy Eric, throw more money at Vince’s talent

[@mariojuana3526]

It was definitely all about the money. Hall even said he would he would of stayed in wwf if they would of matched wcws offer but the guaranteed money was too much and I doubt Vince would of matched if he wasn’t gonna get 300 days out of his deal

[@takerdust]

Scott was complaining about the travel schedule in WWF. He didn't want to go to WCW because he even said it was a bush league compared to WWF.

[@curthennig9448]

@@takerdust They all knew it was the minor leagues but ATM Eric chucked all of Ted's money at the WWF vets.

[@takerdust]

@@curthennig9448 Scott said he was offered around same money, but the schedule was way easier.

[@curthennig9448]

@@takerdust It wasn't even close. Hall got a 3 year contract for 750k per year just like Nash. Vince told them to take it because he couldn't match it. Neither one of them made 300K in 1995. The WWF was in a down period. It was an easier schedule in WCW at 180 days max vs 300 dates in the WWF. Bischoff is fooling people by telling them that these guys were making 1 million in the WWF. Hall and Nash used to call Bret the 400K champion because Bret was just happy to have the belt instead of fighting for more money. Hall walked into Vince's office and told him I want to make more money but Vince wouldn't budge because WWF business in 1995 wasn't great. Bischoff simply does not like to admit that he paid these guys lavishly while reducing their work schedule considerably. It wasn't Eric's money so he wasn't all that worried about tight negotiating. Nash even said in an interview that he was around 250K in 1995 and that wasn't going to cut it in his life. Hall and Nash had made more money in 1994 and that's why they were looking to leave after 1995 because of the down turn in business.

[@gopherstate777]

What a great venue, I wish I was there!

[@ATCRyderX]

I hate myself for even saying this but *imagine* VinnyMac is properly ousted from WWE forever & He goes out & buys AEW...Then WWE Hires Bischoff as the EVP of WWE..and *then* WWE Network has to make another 358 "The Monday Night War" Episodes. Oh god. Help. HALPPP!!!

[@rigfordthebarbarian2895]

What's Shane gonna do, buy TNA?

[@ATCRyderX]

@@rigfordthebarbarian2895 Is TNA still a thing? But yeah, Good Question. Shane will continue his very successful ventures outside of -WWF- err WWE (cringe) *until* the chance arises to double cross Mr. McMahon on the 20th Anniversary of hiring Stone Cold Steve Austin back. #ITWASMEDAD Which will lead into a 2-3 Year long Story Line which ends with Shane buying WWE back & an *INVASION* Angle will begin. Just in time for Vince's funeral & consequential ReBirth. #TheGreaterPower

[@daytonabeachUSA]

I like the fact he paid people and gave them time off.

[@birblife6611]

If WCW signed Paul Roma and gave him a push, they would still be around today. And the WWE would either have respect or fear.

[@GhostJamm]

Lol, no

[@birblife6611]

@@GhostJamm 😂

[@rtmachine2019]

Do you get Pay Per View bonuses with a downside guarantee

[@fluworldorder426]

Dont trust this guy at all. Hall and Nash remembered very differently

[@michaelanderson9897]

Tell me he didn’t say a bucket of chicken and a six pack of soda

[@ken5jk]

So kinda like Twitch vs KZbin gaming

[@jamie-gy6bd]

Bischoff was a used car salesman who had no business try to run a wrestling promotion Bobby Heenan

[@curthennig9448]

And a meat manager. Also mowed Verne Gagne's lawn when he was in the AWA.

[@ZomegJ]

Brett said he would have stayed in WWE for less than what WCW offered but the rest of the guys went for the money.

[@toddsmods.623]

That's bcuz Brett Hart was a mark for himself. He would of worked for free as long as he was "champ".

[@joeriveracomedy]

If any of these guys knew about investing they would only have needed to work 1 year to retire and 2 to set their kids straight.

[@hartiwanger9176]

2:00 Eric should learn from long haul truck drivers what they have to do in 365 days

[@TsaicoGaming]

Truck drivers also average 300 days a year and aren't wrestling matches at every city they stop in. No hate to truck drivers, in fact I have a lot of respect. But to act like truck drivers had it so much harder than wrestlers is very disingenuous

[@hartiwanger9176]

@@TsaicoGamingI will never thumbs up any thing like what you said. Some drivers have to wait for hours to unload and in many cases not even get paid until after 2 hours. Some drivers may have to load and unload for little pay and on top of that have top conform to federal DOT laws and local laws. Tell me how many hours these pseudo wrestlers spend in each city? They also get hotel rooms. Do they have the cops waiting to write $500 tickets? Weight stations tickets? I can go on and on but you do not know what you are talking about!

[@mikeg2491]

⁠​⁠@@hartiwanger9176 Wrestlers have to work out and stay in shape on the road which is tough especially following meal plans and then the actual wrestling leading to a lifetime of injuries and surgeries. I don’t think being a trucker is easy at all but it doesn’t mean wrestling was easy either, especially if you’re a low or midcarder. Also they rarely got hotels, they usually got motels and it came out of their own pocket book. Nothing was provided.

[@impulse_xs]

ATM Eric lies as casually as he breathes air lmao.

[@JC_1997]

Looool he’ll lie about this til the grave

[@TN.DeadHead1861]

are Eric shoes off or is it just me?

[@GeoGuy388]

He mentioned it in the video...

[@-Karnage]

Watch the video before commenting.

[@curthennig9448]

Bischoff's feet get hot when he is lying!

[@UTUBEJOHNNY74]

Why is it that every single person that was ever involved in pro wrestling, they are the only person that knows what is going on, and everyone else is an idiot. There seems to be six different versions of the same story , and they are all biased towards o the storyteller’s point of view. I don’t trust a single word from Vince , Triple H , Hogan , HBK, Nash , and especially not Bischoff. Not an ounce of truth in all of them combined. I was listening to Ric Flair the other day , talking about a 300lbs + wrestler that could run a 10.8 100metres. That speed puts you on the Olympic podium today , not easily achieved two or three decades ago by a man over 300lbs. These guys have had too many concussions

[@FreedomDiaries1]

Eric did a lot for wrestling and unfortunately doesn't get enough credit. Good to hear him talk about what went on from his perspective.

[@curthennig9448]

Yeah he depleted Turner's bank account.

[@scottishjedi1522]

@@curthennig9448Ted was happy to do it. It’s not like Eric wasn’t telling him what he was doing.

[@FreedomDiaries1]

@@curthennig9448 I think that's more on russo than anything. AOL Time Warner also limited what they could do.

[@curthennig9448]

@@scottishjedi1522 I doubt Ted was paying attention to the payroll.

[@TravisBrady-wn8fr]

Gobbletygooker turned down 2 million to go be with the red rooster

[@undertakerfanz628]

Eric the jacket has to go

[@Mmmleftovers]

Sasha Banks is making $10 million. Insane!

[@portugahbk]

That's because Tony Khan isn't running a business, he's spending his money on a vanity project.

[@Nostalgia9478]

Per year???

[@LakeInTheDarkProductions]

For snoop dogs cousin? Free publicity it might be.

[@pwx9000]

Girl power ‼️

[@pwx9000]

​@Nostalgia9478 per well.. appearance? Nah..

[@WaqarHussain-te7ft]

Easy E chatting BS….again 😂

[@misemefein100]

He's telling the truth here....watch Scott hall's a and e documentary and he says this too

[@joshuasteward6097]

How dare you Eric. Pay well? Force Vince to offer guaranteed contracts? Put 5 hours of wrestling in primetime so fans have more wrestling and wrestlers have more jobs. And fewer dates so more time with family. You were horrible! JK.

[@BizzyIzzy87]

The marks who rewrite history are morons.

[@eddiew2325]

bischoff owns mcmahon

[@newhere2419]

what Bischoff is saying isn't remotely true. Hall and Nash said they called Bret the' $400K champion" They went to WCW for around $750k and it went up from there. they said plainly many times they made more for less work. When Bret went in 97 he went from 1.5 Million at that time to 3 Million in WCW,. Hall and Nash got their contracts upped several times.

[@Parlimant_Strifey]

and that was just one dollar more then what the Hulkster was getting paid, brother.

[@justinmartin1831]

Very true. Nash and Hall have said they wanted to stay in WWE but Vince wouldn't pay them more or anything close to what WCW was offering. Hall said in a shoot that his pay had plateaued in WWE and that he even talked to Vince about getting a higher percentage from merch and work in Japan occasionally to make more but Vince said no because he would have to do the same for other top guys like Undertaker and Shawn.

[@IblewuponyourfaceIII]

No way Bret Hart was only making 400k in the WWE, that was more of a joke labeling him that cause he was pushing an upscale in the payroll. He was probably making 500k to 750k which isn’t a lot when you think about all the expenses a wrestler has to pay & especially for the champion.

[@curthennig9448]

Very true. Hall and Nash got a tremendous boost in yearly money in 1996. I would venture to say twice as much for sure considering the WWF was struggling in 1995. And a huge drop in the amount of days worked. Then ATM Eric really opened the vault for Bret in Nov 1997(2.7 mil) allowing for Hall an Nash to get new contracts that elevatored over 4 years starting at around 1.1-1.2/mil per year. I like how Eric just brushes over this like it was no big deal.

[@curthennig9448]

@@IblewuponyourfaceIII I would venture to say it wasn't over 500k in 1995.

[@AD-ur1fk]

This guys a liar. The wcw contracts are public online . Jobbers were making a lot of money

[@depthsofhell]

Why is he lying nash hall and hogan did not work more for wcw than in wwf otherwise they dont have a reason to go there

[@josecasarez6318]

Erich always makes himself look like a fool trying to clear up this and that . " Oh that's not true" blah blah blah.

[@Cultofpersonality09129]

Wants to make people believe he was a genius businessman.

[@qweasdzxcname]

for decades we heard only wwe side. i love it that in recent years bischoff started to tell more and more of his side of the story. there are so many nuances to the wcw story than just what the wwe is telling us. or maybe its just another lie in the wrestling world. who knows what is the truth...

[@kcjones89]

The way he talks about slim jim makes me think Vince knew how big a deal it was when Savage left

[@s.a.f8794]

ATM ERIC🤣💀

[@MetalMilitia83]

He’s just straight lying, but cool 😂

[@RashadSims-bh3zz]

Why would he need to lie for

[@nes199]

WWE is still in business so.....

[@justinsecrist1130]

Yeah the real reason people overlook is the time Warner aol merger. They didn’t want wrestling on their tv.

[@Savvage.875]

Yeah Warner didn’t want wrestling they hated it from the start

[@rolltide9547]

​@@justinsecrist1130Because it was losing money.

[@justinsecrist1130]

@rolltide9547 yeah but not the real reason. Everyone goes by losing money but they never made money even before bischoff.

[@allencollins5666]

And? They Super Suck. WCW Could've Never Suck Half As Much As WWE Do Today. And AOL-TIME WARNER Is The Reason For WCW Not Being Here. WWE Wasn't Big Enough To Put WCW Out Of Business. WCW Ratings For 2 Major Reasons Dropped, Standards And Practices Handcuffing WCW And Most NWO Top Stars Injuries. Eric Bischoff Was Going To Gain Momentum But Time Warner Fired Him. After He Got WCW Rating To A 4.1. Not Giving Him Enough Time To Gain Momentum For WCW. Vince McMahon Weren't Fired When WWE Was Downhill (1996/1997). He Qas Goven 2 Years To Turn The Company Around. Vince McMahon Qas Scared Eric Bischoff Was Going To Come Back & Put WWE Out Of Business Had He Bought WCW. AOL-Time Warner-Vince McMahon Conspiracy, Including Sending/Hiring Vince Russo To WCW. The WWE Should've Been Out Of Business. They Will Continue To Slowly Die & Be Far Worse Than WCW. For Every WCW Mistake There. Are 15 WWE Mistakes. The WWE Would Cut Off Their Arm & Have It For WCW 2000 Ratings. 3,000,000-4,800,000 Viewers. For Most The Monday Night War WCW Roster Was Better And It's Way Better Than Today's WWE Roster. Today's WWE Nothing. There's An Article On Why Vince McMahon Is Not A Genius. 1.)He Created Many Many Awful Characters. 2.)He Created Many, Many Awful Storylines. 3.)He Fails To Evolve 4..)He Doesn't Have A Very Good Eye For Talent. 5.)He's Blind To Nepotism 6.)He Inconsistent & Pays No Attention To Details 7.)He Stole Talent To Build The WWE 8..)He Botches Foolproof Storylines 9.)His Ratings Keep Falling 10.)His Other Ventures Failed(WBF Bodybuilding, XFL, WWE Studios, WWE Films, WWE New York, etc.) It Said He Didn't Ever Have An Original Idea. Like WCW Always Better Than Attitude Era. The Attitude Era Is OVERRATED. It Had A Lot Of Flawed Stars And Overrated Wrestlers. Steve Austin Was Midcard Talent At Best. Austin Only Got Over Because Of The Attitude Era. Mr. Triple H Slept His Way To The Top. Dominant Fat Wrestlers Weighed 400-800 Pounds And Dominant Nonbuilt Nonmuscular Wrestlers Weigh 400-500 Pounds It's Why Cactus Jack & The Undertaker Weren't Pushed In WCW. The Rock Has Been Exposed For People's Elbow, The Way He Retardedly Did It: He Standing Over His Opponents For 10-15 Seconds, Threw His Elbow Pad In The Crowd, Ran From One Side Of The Ring To The Other And Then Dropped The People's Elbow And His Opponents Just Lied There All That Time To Get Elbowed. And Plus The People's Elbow Wasn't All That Effective. The Undertaker, Mick Foley, Bradshaw, Edge, Christian, The Dudley's, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, The Godfather And Val Venis Overrated & DX As So-Called Rival To The NWO. WCW Roster Was Superior Most Of Their 80 Plus Weeks Winning Streak, Little In 1999, 1998 & 2000. WCW Had Far More Built Muscular Heavyweights In 2000. WWE Mostly Had The Rock, Triole H, Kurt Angle, Kane, Faarooq, Test, Hardcore Holly, Steve Blackman & Bull Buchanan. In The Invasion Vince Was Scared Of The Real WCW With Their Superior Roster. Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Sting, Lex Luger, Sid Vicious, Goldberg, Randy Savage, Bret Hart, Roddy Piper, Scott Steiner, Booker T, Jeff Jarrett, Mike Awesome, Bryan Adams, Bryan Clarke, Shawn Stasiak, Sean O'Haire, Chuck Palumbo, Mark Jindrak, Van Hammer, Horace Hogan, Stevie Ray, Kanyon, Jerry Flynn, Kiss Demon, Konnan, Curt Hennig, Reno, Johnny The Bull Stamboli, Vincent & Road Warrior Animal.-WCW Built Muscular Heavyweights. In 2001 Invasion, The WWE Had Steve Austin, The Rock, Kane, Kurt Angle, Test, Faarooq, Billy Gunn, Hardcore Holly & Bull Buchanan Built Muscular Heavyweights. WCW Would've Dominated The WWE. You Forgot About Vince McMahon Allegations. The WWE Going Down. Plus The Other Crimes Vince Did, More Sexual Assaults And Murders Having Wrestlers Killed Because They Knew About Pat Patterson & Vince McMahon Gay-Wrestlers Having To Sleep With Them To Become Superstars WWE. You Probably Believe Vince Is Innocent. Noone Who Watched The Attitude Era Which Had Lot Of Shitty Storylines, 70% Bad Wrestling And Sh!tty Wrestlers, Believe McMahon Is Innocent. WWE Is Suffering. Karma Far Far From Over. Rock316AE Did WCW vs WWE Who Really Won The Monday Night War, A Work Of God During Pandemic COVID, A Channel Named After The Rock, Austin 3:16 And Attitude Era. They Were Chosen To Prove WCW Really Won. I Wish Vince McMahon And Two Of His Biggest Butt Kissers Bruce Prichard & JBL Were Chosen By God To Show How WCW Won With Reliving The War/Rewinding The Monday Night War. Core Discussions Are So Lit🔥 . Before WCW Ratings Winning Streak, WCW Won 28 Weeks & WWE 8 Weeks. With Rock316AE, WCW Won 110 Weeks & WWE Won 86 Weeks And There Were Over Several Ties.