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Kurt Angle has opened up on how much money he made during his rookie year in WWE.
On the latest edition of The Kurt Angle Show on AdFreeShows, the Olympic Gold Medalist revealed he smashed his initial goal. The WWE Hall of Famer stated that he hoped to make one million dollars in his first year in the wrestling business. At the time, WWE only guaranteed rookies $75,000.
During the podcast, Angle explained how he discussed the financial figure with Jim Ross, who sounded unconvinced of Angle's confidence in the number. Angle also revealed that the majority of his earnings that year did not come as a result of merchandise sales.
"You know what, my guarantee was $75,000, so I made well over that. What I was surprised about, and I promised J.R [Jim Ross] this when I accepted that contract, he said 'you're going to get $75,000 a year for five years.' I signed the contract, I said, 'Don't worry about it because I'm going to make a million in my first year.' He's like, 'Whatever you say.' So I did, I did make a million, which I'm really proud of. I wasn't expecting to make a million dollars my first year in the business, especially not having any kind of merchandise. I wasn't selling merchandise. "
"They weren't hopping off the shelves and people weren't buying Kurt Angle stuff because I was a heel. So I didn't make a lot on that. I got paid to wrestle and I got paid very well to do it. So making a million dollars a year without any kind of merchandise, I made maybe 30 or 40 grand with merchandise, that was about it. I made a lot of money wrestling and I did exceed the goal that I told JR I would do." - H/T Fightful.
Angle described how he was simply paid to wrestle, and WWE paid him a lot of money to do so, even in his rookie year. Whereas huge stars like Steve Austin were also compensated through their merchandise, Angle's in-ring talent was his main draw.
The Kurt Angle Show podcast continues to grow
Since its launch in February, The Kurt Angle Show has become one of the most listened-to and downloaded wrestling podcasts on the planet. Angle himself recently tweeted an image that shows the podcast topping the wrestling podcast charts in the USA.
He has covered numerous interesting topics from his wrestling career, including his WWE debut and his WrestleMania main event against Brock Lesnar.
You can listen to The Kurt Angle Show here.
What do you think of Kurt Angle's revelations about his compensation? Sound off in the comments below.
