5. Kevin Wacholz - The Beneficiary Of Pure Incompetence
A journeyman from Minnesota who was previously best known as Kevin Kelly in the AWA, Kevin Wacholz was hired by the WWF in 1992 to portray Nailz, a former inmate who (falsely?) accused the Big Bossman of abusing him. That set up a feud, which culminated in a nightstick on a pole match at Survivor Series that year. Nailz was set to move on to a feud with The Undertaker and an angle was shot, but they only had a handful of matches on house shows. Why? Wacholz thought his SummerSlam payoff was too low, attacked Vince McMahon in the locker room, and then told the police that he was defending himself because Vince tried to sexually assault him. Really. Then-WWF spokesperson Steve Planamenta was quoted in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter as saying "The discussion was about money. I guess he wasn't happy with his pay. What happened after that is he jumped on Vince. Police came and then we have a police report that alleges Vince did things that were a fabrication." Earl Hebner added that "He launched across the room, grabbed him by the throat and threw him down. Kevin ran to the phone and called 911 and told the police to come down because he'd been sexually assaulted. Not a chance. There's no way. He couldn't have pulled out a gun as fast as Nailz was on him." http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3us4h_sting-vs-the-prisoner_sport Wacholz was immediately fired for unprofessional conduct and did indie shows for a few years as well as having one match in WCW, working as "The Prisoner" and losing to Sting. He returned to WCW for a house show match on April 17, 1998, defeating fellow Minnesota native Barry Darsow in the opener. He was signed to a contract and never used again. However...well, I think you can guess were this is going. Cost: He was paid to do nothing, "earning" $144,360.85 in 1998 and $100,393.03 in 1999, with his contract being terminated on May 28th of the latter year. Since Steve McMichael was being paid about $250,000 each year, it's likely that Wacholz's contract called for about $200,000 to be paid in each one year term.
Formerly the site manager of Cageside Seats and the WWE Team Leader at Bleacher Report, David Bixenspan has been writing professionally about WWE, UFC, and other pop culture since 2009. He's currently WhatCulture's U.S. Editor and also serves as the lead writer of Figure Four Weekly and a monthly contributor to Fighting Spirit Magazine.
Cost: He was paid to do nothing, "earning" $144,360.85 in 1998 and $100,393.03 in 1999, with his contract being terminated on May 28th of the latter year. Since Steve McMichael was being paid about $250,000 each year, it's likely that Wacholz's contract called for about $200,000 to be paid in each one year term.