8 Times Vince McMahon Regretted Huge WWE Contracts

6. The Club

Vince McMahon Ultimate Warrior
WWE.com

Just to clarify, yes, the tandem of Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows are one of the very best tag teams in the world. With their tag run in New Japan Pro Wrestling as part of The Bullet Club, Anderson and Gallows put themselves on the map as major players in the tag team game.

The reason for The Club's inclusion here has zero to do with the pair's work or talent, but more to do with how Vince McMahon must look back in frustration at the most recent WWE contracts signed by Machine Gun and Doc.

Ever since All Elite Wrestling started to become a reality, we've seen how WWE has desperately tried to get any and all talents to sign new long-term contracts in an attempt to stop said stars from signing with this burgeoning rival promotion. And what better way to convince people to tie themselves down to lengthy deals than by offering them a massive wedge of cash?

In the case of The Club, Anderson and Gallows were rightfully frustrated with how they'd been used during so much of these past few years, and thus they were reportedly looking to refuse any WWE contract extension and instead were keen to explore what other options are out there. Well, that was until WWE offered them a staggering $750,000 basic salary apiece last year.

Seeing such Scrooge McDuck levels of moolah did indeed convince this tag pairing to re-sign with WWE. And upon their recent WWE release on April 15, it seems that Anderson and Gallows would've had quite the golden handshake upon being let out of their hefty contracts.

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, Jamie Hayer, 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.