The Rock has revealed how he went from making $150K a year to making $15 million a year in WWE.
The Great One recently had an interview with Patrick Bet-David of Valuetainment. He talked about things such as why he is not running for president, the Donald Trump assassination attempts and more.
During the interview, the former World Champion was asked about his relationship with Vince McMahon. Talking on the subject, he told a story about how the former WWE chairman helped him learn to respect the business. He mentioned that he was making $150K per year in his first contract with the company. When his career took off, the boss called him to renegotiate his deal:
“He wanted to renegotiate my contract about two to three years in. A couple of wrestlers at that time had their own agents, but I chose not to have an agent. He said, ‘Are you going to have an agent? Are you looking for an agent?’ I said ‘I’m not. I’d like to negotiate with you directly. And how we met was with a handshake—and I believe how we’re going to do this is with a handshake.’
Handshakes are very important to me, as I know everybody in this room. So, I always say my handshake is better than anything I ever sign—it’s right here.
So he said, ‘Great, I love that. I respect it. What are you thinking?’ I said, ‘Who’s the highest-paid if you don’t mind me asking. Between us, who’s the highest-paid on the roster?’ He said, ‘Stone Cold Steve Austin.’ I said, ‘Okay. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s his guarantee?’ He said, ‘A million dollars.’ I went, ‘Okay, I want two.’ Oh, I know the balls of that kid [laughs].”
I Think It Should Be Two: The Rock
After hearing the figure The Rock wanted, McMahon made an unexpected move. He asked the former World Champion to work with one of the company executives to learn the operating costs of the business:
“So he said, ‘Two million?’ I said, ‘Yes,’ ‘Guaranteed?’ I said ‘Yes’ And he said, ‘I’m just curious—where do you get that from? What are you figuring out in your mind?’ I said, ‘Well, I love Steve; I respect him. But if he’s getting a million dollars, where I see myself going is past a million dollars. I think it should be two.’
He went, ‘Okay, I understand that logic.’ He said, ‘Here’s what I want you to do: I’m going to put you in contact with one of our executives. I need you to take a couple of months, if it takes that long—because I was on the road, I need you to understand the business—I need you to understand this side of the business—from top to bottom, all the economics.
I want you to understand that—I want you to understand our cost, overhead. I want you to look at what’s allocated to the [boys]… I want you to take the time and put in the work that you say you’re committed to in the ring. Yes, I expect that from you. But now, I want you to learn the business. Once you learn this business, then you come back to me, and then we’ll talk about the renegotiation.”
Baptism By Fire
The biggest surprise for the People’s Champion came after this, however, when he went back to Vince McMahon. According to The Rock, the former WWE owner offered him a contract worth a lot more than what he was asking:
“[I learned] what the overhead costs are, what the costs are for every venue we go into, what the cost of the venue is, what the state tax is, what the allocation for all the wrestlers is going to be—that percentage of what the gate is that particular night.
I didn’t take three months—I mean, maybe it was just two weeks. It was baptism by fire, and I learned to absorb as much as I could about the business. I went back to Vince, thanked him, gave him a big hug, and said, ‘I understand now. I’d like to match it at a million dollars—what Steve is getting. Thank you for taking me through it.’
We had a great conversation. He said, ‘How much do you think you’re going to make this year?’ I said, ‘Well, if my guarantee is a million, I’ve been averaging about 50% over my guarantee, so maybe 1.5 million.’ He went ‘ok, now that you’ve taken yourself through that, now you understand the business. You’re gonna make $15 million a year.”
