5 WWE legends and the biggest paydays of their careers

Unlike many sports stars, the amount of money that WWE Superstars earn is not usually common knowledge amongst fans.

In football/soccer, for example, players’ weekly salaries are widely reported when they join a new club, but that never happens in the ever-changing world of sports entertainment.

The majority of WWE Superstars have a downside guarantee in their contracts. This means they are guaranteed to earn a certain amount of money every year, regardless of how frequently they appear on television.

In addition to that figure, WWE Superstars also receive payment for matches, merchandise sales, and various other WWE-related appearances.

Although it is rare for people involved with WWE to publicly discuss their finances, some Superstars have been happy to let fans know which match earned them the biggest payday of their career – and some even revealed the exact amount that they earned that day.

In this article, let’s take a look at five WWE legends who willingly disclosed that information.

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#5 Jerry Lawler (WWE WrestleMania 27 - $130,000)

Speaking on his Dinner With The King podcast in 2017, WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler revealed that he was paid $130,000 for his match against Michael Cole at WrestleMania 27.

The 14-minute encounter, which was refereed by Steve Austin, is generally considered to be one of the worst matches in WrestleMania history.

In fact, according to Cole, Vince McMahon described the WWE commentator vs. WWE commentator match as “the worst thing I have ever witnessed in 60 years”.

Despite the WWE Chairman’s low opinion of what he saw that day, Lawler still received a huge match fee.

“My lone WrestleMania match led to my biggest payday ever in the wrestling business. Here's me, an announcer, having a WrestleMania match with another announcer. In a matter of a few minutes, I got paid $130,000 for that match.” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]

Lawler, who had a legendary in-ring career before he joined WWE as a commentator in 1992, suffered a cardiac arrest in September 2012 after competing in a match on WWE RAW.

The 70-year-old has continued to wrestle at non-WWE shows in recent years. However, he said in 2019 that he is on WWE’s no-touch list and McMahon will no longer allow him to wrestle for the company.

#4 Chris Jericho (WWE Invasion and WrestleMania events)

It should come as no surprise that WWE Superstars often receive a lot more money for their WrestleMania matches than any other event on the WWE calendar.

Speaking on his Talk Is Jericho podcast in August 2020, Chris Jericho confirmed that his biggest WWE paydays came at WrestleMania.

Excluding WrestleMania events, the nine-time WWE Intercontinental Champion revealed that he received a lot of money for his role in the WWE Invasion pay-per-view in 2001.

Jericho appeared in the main event, which saw The WCW-ECW Coalition (Booker T, Bubba Ray Dudley, Diamond Dallas Page, D-Von Dudley, and Rhyno) defeat Team WWE (Jericho, Kane, Kurt Angle, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and The Undertaker).

“When I got my payoff for that [WWE Invasion], it was the biggest payoff I've ever gotten for a non-WrestleMania ever. From a 10-man tag, I got more money for that than anything else besides a couple WrestleManias.” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]

While Jericho did not reveal exactly how much he made from WWE Invasion or any of his WrestleMania events, he mentioned at an Inside The Ropes live show that he earned the same amount of money for his WrestleMania 29 match against Fandango as he did one year earlier against CM Punk.

“When I got my paycheck for WrestleMania 29, it was the exact same amount that I got for WrestleMania 28, which was a main event title match, and that was a huge payoff. Vince gave me another huge payoff for doing a good job with Fandango.”

Jericho has been very open about the fact that he did not want to face Fandango at WrestleMania 29.

#3 WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson (Jim Crockett Promotions - $12,500)

WWE Hall of Famer Arn Anderson said on an episode of his ARN podcast in October 2019 that Jim Crockett promised him $25,000 for his match at Bunkhouse Stampede 1988 against Dusty Rhodes, The Barbarian, Ivan Koloff, Lex Luger, Road Warrior Animal, Tully Blanchard, and The Warlord.

When Anderson received his payment for the match 90 days later, he found out that he had only been paid $12,500.

Crockett’s failure to keep his promise ultimately caused Anderson to leave Jim Crockett Promotions and sign with WWE later in the year.

Speaking on another episode of his podcast in October 2020, Anderson recalled that the $12,500 he received for Bunkhouse Stampede was the biggest payday of his wrestling career, including his time in WWE.

“$12,500 was exactly half of what Crockett had told me he was going to pay me, and that's what I got. It was supposed to have been 25 [thousand], but it was $12,500, and I guess that was still even the single biggest payoff I ever got.” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]

Anderson added that he was very grateful to earn the amount of money that he did in the wrestling business, even though he did not earn anywhere near as much as other top guys.

#2 The Big Show (WWE WrestleMania 24 vs. Floyd Mayweather)

Not many WWE Superstars have had as many WrestleMania moments as The Big Show.

The seven-foot Superstar has competed in matches at 17 WrestleManias during his legendary WWE career, including a main-event appearance in the Fatal 4-Way WWE Championship match against Triple H, The Rock, and Mick Foley at WrestleMania 2000.

He has also had memorable matches against John Cena (WrestleMania 20) and sumo wrestler Akebono (WrestleMania 21) at the famous event.

In 2008, Big Show took part in one of the top marquee matches at WrestleMania 24 against boxer Floyd “Money” Mayweather.

Unsurprisingly, the four-time WWE World Champion said in an interview on Miami radio station Sports Talk 790AM in 2016 that the special attraction match earned him the biggest payday of his WWE career.

“Best match I’ve ever been a part of [was] WrestleMania, Floyd Mayweather. Biggest paycheck ever. He was amazing.” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]

The finish to the match saw Mayweather remove his boxing glove before striking Big Show with a pair of brass knuckles. The WWE Superstar was unable to stand up after a 10-count, resulting in the boxer winning the match.

#1 Jesse Ventura (WWE SummerSlam 1999)

Jesse Ventura officiated the WWE SummerSlam 1999 main event

During his term as governor of Minnesota, former WWE Superstar and commentator Jesse Ventura worked as the special guest referee for the Steve Austin vs. Mankind vs. Triple H match at WWE SummerSlam 1999.

The event took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is why Ventura returned to WWE to make a one-off guest appearance.

In a similar way to how Jerry Lawler received a huge payday several years after his full-time in-ring career came to an end, Ventura was also rewarded with a big payoff for his role at SummerSlam.

He said on The Steve Austin Show in 2016 that he received more money for that appearance as a referee than he did during his time as a wrestler.

“The biggest payday I ever received in wrestling when I refereed the match in Minneapolis. As a wrestler, how can I say my biggest payoff was being a referee? I’m a wrestler!” [H/T Wrestle Zone]

Mankind won the SummerSlam main event to reclaim the WWE Championship. However, the match is arguably best remembered for a famous botch involving Austin.

The Texas Rattlesnake’s knee brace accidentally got tangled up in the ropes after he tried to taunt Shane McMahon at ringside.

Triple H had to break character by unhooking his babyface opponent’s knee brace to help him back into the ring.