Within the world of professional wrestling, if a wrestler is unhappy with how their contract is laid out for them, they usually have no problem in expressing their anger over it. Throughout the history of the WWE there have been many cases of wrestlers losing it over contracts that the company has offered them.
Even some wrestlers get fed up their current contract and feel they are worth more to the company than they are being given. Here are 5 contract disputes between wrestlers and management that have led to some bad blood between both parties involved.
#5 The Ultimate Warrior
In 1991, Warrior thought he was worth more to WWE than Vince did, which led to Warrior blackmailing Vince for more money than was set out in his contract.
The night before the SummerSlam event, McMahon would have to pay a six-figure sum or Warrior would no show. No one is quite sure whether Warrior was paid or not but Vince did suspend him before the Hall Of Famer quit for several months.
That wouldn’t be the end though.
In 1996 and 1998 they locked horns over the rights to the names Warrior and Ultimate Warrior, under both contract and copyright law to the WWE. Warrior did end up winning both cases which entitled him to use the gimmick, costuming, face paint and mannerisms of the character.
#4 Rey Mysterio
Rey Mysterio was one of the most popular stars the WWE had at their disposal. Despite this, Rey eventually became unhappy during his time in WWE and by 2014 he was hoping to end or at least renegotiate his contract.
Rey discovered that WWE had extended his contract without his approval, which upset him extremely, causing him to switch gears from a possible renegotiation to immediately cutting ties with the company. Things were so heated during his last few months with WWE that Rey had stopped cashing his paychecks as a nonverbal protest.
#3 Brock Lesnar walks out of Raw
On an episode of Raw on the road to Wrestltmania 31 it was fairly obvious that Lesnar wasn’t getting the right kind of contract he wanted from WWE. People have speculated that WWE wanted Lesnar to sign a long-term contract; maybe around the three year mark. Lesnar, who I’m assuming isn’t the guy for long-term commitment, would have rather a shorter contract.
Whatever went down, Lesnar decided to get up and leave the live show that he was to appear on, get on his private jet and flew off home.
Thankfully nothing came of it and Lesnar returned and re-signed his contract with the WWE.
#2 Mike Awesome and Paul Heyman
Heyman was trying to tie Awesome down to a new deal despite owing the ECW Champion a vast amount of money. Understandably, Awesome was reluctant to re-sign while he was still owed money and jumped at the chance to join WCW. After all, the WCW roster's salaries were far superior to those ECW could offer (and they paid on time).
This story was proved correct by Awesome's former Team Canada leader Lance Storm. Awesome received a lot of heat from the ECW faithful for the move, but as Storm puts it: "After repeatedly not receiving money promised, Mike accepted an offer from WCW that offered his family financial security.”
#1 Ryback
Ryback was sent home from a WWE Raw taping because The Big Guy had been reported to be having several contract disputes with WWE.
Some had speculated that Ryback even asked WWE to write off his character from TV indefinitely. Ryback has been noted to have been tired of his position on the card and spoke very publically about his frustrations with how different wrestlers are being paid less for their position on the card.
He has said that he is also frustrated with not being in more main events. He believes his character is better than WWE make it out to be. The Big Guy’s main gripe seems to be that he is not happy with the offer on the table that WWE offered him in relation to his pay.
It’s hard to tell what the future holds for Ryback but it’s hard to deny some of the points he made are pretty valid points.
