10 Wrestlers Who Had To Deal With Major Pay Cuts

7. Brian Pillman

WCW tried to enforce a major pay cut on Brian Pillman in 1992. WCW were cutting considerable costs at the time, to the point where they were offering talents lunch boxes rather than catering.

Head booker Bill Watts and Brian Pillman weren’t on the friendliest of terms, with Watts around this time banning high flying top rope manoeuvres, even ruling if used in matches it would result in an automatic disqualification for the wrestler. Watts stripped away everything likeable about the promotion’s dynamic Light Heavyweight Division, which Pillman frequently competed in, even being crowned the first WCW Light Heavyweight Champion at Halloween Havoc ’91.

When Watts told Pillman he was looking to cut his pay otherwise he would be excessively jobbed out, Brian was having none of it, rejecting the pay cut and instead choosing to be “the highest-paid jobber in the business.”

Later circumstances worked in Pillman’s favour, going on to form the magnificent Hollywood Blondes tag team with Steve Austin, while Watts was demoted and later quit the promotion in 1993.

Dave Meltzer reported on the pay cut proposition:

"With Brian it was real simple. ‘Here's the deal Brian, we are going to re-negotiate your contract. $156k you get to be Light Heavyweight Champion and we'll make you a big star or you keep your $225k and we'll job you like crazy it's your choice’. And Brian just said no, this is my contract and you can pay me to be the highest paid jobber in wrestling history. And that's what Bill did."