10 Wrestlers Who Had To Deal With Major Pay Cuts

10. Arn Anderson

Since leaving WWE ‘The Enforcer’ Arn Anderson in interviews and on his podcast ARN has offered many titbits of what really goes on behind the scenes in WWE, as well as stories from his famed career. During an appearance on Talk is Jericho where he reunited with Tully Blanchard, Arn went into detail of the time he defected over to WCW from the WWF in the late 80s.

At the time WCW had promised big contracts to Tully and Arn to come over, with the two handing their notices in to Vince McMahon and making plans to debut for WCW. Ric Flair would have to call the two not long afterwards though and inform them WCW had reneged on the deal.

Tully reportedly refused a new offer of $156,000 for 300 dates, after originally being promised $156,000 per year for 176 dates. Jim Ross, who was working behind the scenes back then, has spoken of how it was bad business on WCW Executive Vice President Jim Herd’s end.

Arn, thinking about earning a decent living for his family, reluctantly agreed to the new deal and toughed it out. Here’s what he had to say about that turbulent time in his career:

“The biggest reason was there was an a–hole named Jim Herd at the helm, and he figured out some way somehow when I came in for my meeting that I wasn’t worth as much to the company that had made a deal for he and I. And you’re not worth as much as you two guys were together, so we’re going to cut your contract by 150 grand over a three-year period. At that time, that was a lot of money at my house. And then he saw I was not happy as you could imagine.