10 Mind-Blowing Wrestler Salaries WWE Couldn't Afford

9. Sting - Salary Expectations $1.25 Million, Part Time Schedule, Creative Control

Sting always attained very good deals from WCW. He was always even or ahead of the WWF pay structure and had little interest in going up north in the nineties. Helping him stay so well paid was his close personal friendship with Eric Bischoff, who in that time was known as ATM Eric for the lavish contracts he dished out. Ted Turner was also a fan of the Stinger and appreciated him as a figurehead of major league southern wrestling. Given how over Sting was as a star, it should be no surprise that Vince McMahon wanted to sign him at several points in his career. But WCW were paying him $750,000 in 1993, which was $1.25 million by the latter stages of that decade. McMahon's pay structure simply couldn't accommodate that sort of investment. On top of this, Sting walked away from WWE negotiations in 2001 because he didn't trust how Vince would book his character. He wanted some degree of creative control, in addition to a part time schedule. McMahon couldn't offer $1.25 million, part time dates and creative control, so he let Sting walk away. Finally, in 2014, the two sides worked something out, leading to Sting losing to Triple H at WWE WrestleMania 31.