10 Most INSANE Promises Wrestling Promoters Made To Wrestlers
7. Ralphus Has A Contract And More!
Can Ralphus be considered a wrestler? Let's roll with it, because the comedy sidekick did work 4 WCW Hardcore Title matches in the calamitous year (for those on Nitro and Thunder, at least) 2000. Ol' Ralphus got his start as the only member of Chris Jericho's personal security team right at the tail end of the 1990s.
Jericho once recalled on his podcast how Ralphus would show up for house shows he wasn't booked on and ask to be involved. You've got to give it to the dude - he was all in on making pro wrestling a viable gig. Eventually, probably because they couldn't get him to go away, WCW agreed to give Ralphus an actual contract instead of just paying him per appearance.
Get this: Management handed him a deal worth $78,000 per year guaranteed. It gets more involved than that, don't you worry. On top of his contract, Ralphus was promised at least 2 personal appearances off screen per week. To the tune of $750 per shot. Basically, when adding all of this up, he doubled his salary to $156,000 without ever really doing much.
Remember this when some people wonder why WCW was in the state it was in towards the end. They were throwing 156 grand at someone who moved on to hanging around with Norman Smiley once Jericho fled to the WWF. Promising Ralphus double what his contract originally stated was a bold move by top brass.
Those were some super expensive Hardcore Title matches. The big man was clearing 3k per week.