10 Insane Wrestling Paydays

10. The Ultimate Warrior - $500,000+ For WWE SummerSlam 1991

There are two versions of the events that took place backstage at Madison Square Garden ahead of Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan's SummerSlam 1991 main event against the Triangle Of Terror.

One is the gleeful misrepresentation spewed out in relentless trash-piece 'The Self-Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior'. The other is...the truth.

A hatchet job unlike any other, Warrior's entire character is exhaustively extricated from WWE lore during the infamous defamatory DVD, particularly when McMahon references him figuratively holding a gun to his head over a one-off payment. Sgt Slaughter later revealed the controversial sum amounted to $500,000, which was no small stack for a single night's work. McMahon was apparently furious over this 'hold-up'. But can you steal what was already supposed to be yours?

Decades later, correspondence between the two revealed that Vince had promised the figure along with other demands dished out by the former WWE Champion that brought him in line with Hulk Hogan's own astronomical earnings. Warrior pocketed a small fortune that August night, but remarkably, he was owed it.

Authored by Michael Hamflett

Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett

First Posted On: 26th Apr 2018

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