1. The Great Khali, Lower Mid Carder, $974,000 Yearly Guaranteed (Typical Low Mid Card Earns 200-400k), Competed In 3 PPVs, 0 Main Events To Draw 0 Buys, No Merchandise Sales
It doesn't get any more of a travesty than The Great Khali's pay - the barely mobile giant is earning close to a million, despite hardly ever being used and pushing zero merchandise. Most talent in a similar role are on anything between $70k to $400k. A fair pay for Khali would be around $100k. He added nothing to the three pay per views he was used on (all filler, one appearance not even advertised ahead of time), and WWE doesn't bother trying to push merchandise sales from the useless character. When he is used on tv, it is more often than not a 2 minute comedy angle or a 3 minute match in which his opponent does all the work. WWE are paying Khali to simply walk to the ring and look tall - it isn't worth anything close to $974,000 value of work. What was Vince McMahon thinking? Well, upon signing Khali, the company genuinely believed he would become a consistent main event star and champion. Vince thought he had a new Andre The Giant on his hand, he pushed Khali hard with clean wins over The Undertaker. Despite all the help in the world, the awful worked did not get over. WWE are now stuck with a painfully bad performer who is sapping $974,000 a year from the company coffers. For more on other WWE superstar salaries, check out this feature -
http://whatculture.com/wwe/wwe-10-wrestlers-salaries-wont-believe.php