5 WWE Superstars who were allegedly refused a pay raise

#3 Former WWE Women’s Champion Sable

Jim Ross recalled on an August 2020 episode of his Grilling JR podcast that Sable asked for a pay raise from WWE after her appearance at the Unforgiven: In Your House event in April 1998.

Steve Austin headlined the show in a WWE Championship match against Dude Love, but Sable allegedly felt that she was “equally, if not more, responsible” for the 0.85 pay-per-view buy rate due to her Evening Gown match with Luna Vachon.

Ross, who handled WWE Superstars’ pay during that time, acknowledged that Sable was a big draw for the company in that era. However, he stood his ground and refused to increase the former Women's Champion's pay for the event.

“I’m sure she had a leg to stand on with her argument, but she made a lot of money that day and the bottom line was, ‘Did you write down a pay-off for her on that show that was fair?’ Absolutely, it was fair. And then when she got the cheque is when the fallout or the complaints came about. Yes, I heard all those, and yes, I sat down and I had no issues whatsoever in justifying my pay-off to her.”

Ross said WWE does not use a standard formula for PPV pay cheques, and it was his responsibility to try to come up with an honest and fair number that would appease talents.

He added that many complaints came as a result of Superstars purposely lying to their colleagues by claiming that they earned more than they actually did.