11 WWE Superstars Who Were Given Huge Contracts

4. CM Punk

Very few wrestlers since the days of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin have been as over as strongly as CM Punk. His star skyrocketed when his very real WWE contract negotiations began to intertwine with the day-to-day storytelling of the company back in 2011. Punk would obviously re-sign with the WWE, but there was quite the stand-off between the Second City Saint and Vince McMahon€™s organisation. When the contract was finally agreed, Punk received a whopping $1.2 million guaranteed annual income, not to mention his own personal tour bus and first class travel arrangements covered for when bus use wasn€™t possible. The Straight Edge Superstar also received a percentage of merchandise sales. Considering that Punk actively spoke about how his main beef with the company was his positioning on the card and how he was being overlooked, wanting to make a difference and have the spotlight shine on different guys, he certainly managed to get quite the impressive deal for himself. At the end of the day, CM Punk was a true main event superstar and somebody who got the most buzz for the company since the days of the Attitude Era, not to mention having a legendary WWE Championship reign after his return. His ample contract was definitely deserved. What€™s sad is that Punk finally got the recognition that he so yearned, but then left to ply his trade in the UFC.
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.