Kemo
03-22-2021, 11:15 PM
New WWE superstars usually do not make a lot of money in their first year with the company but it wasn’t the case for the former world champion Kurt Angle.
The heavyweight star found success in his amateur wrestling career early on and this success apparently helped in launching his WWE career.
The former world champion talked about his first year on the latest episode of his Kurt Angle Show podcast, and revealed that he actually made $1 million during his debut year:
“You know what, my guarantee was $75,000, so I made well over that. What I was surprised about, and I promised J.R this when I accepted that contract, he said ‘you’re going to get $75,000 a year for five years.’
I signed the contract, I said ‘don’t worry about it because I’m going to make a million in my first year.’” said Kurt Angle, “He’s like, ‘whatever you say.’ So I did, I did make a million, which I’m really proud of.”
Kurt then revealed that the money did not come from merchandise sale as he was a heel at the time and the amount he was paid was mostly for wrestling:
“I wasn’t selling merchandise. They weren’t hopping off the shelves and people weren’t buying Kurt Angle stuff because I was a heel. So I didn’t make a lot on that. I got paid to wrestle and I got paid very well to do it.
So making a million dollars a year without any kind of merchandise, I made maybe 30 or 40 grand with merchandise, that was about it. I made a lot of money wrestling and I did exceed the goal that I told JR I would do.”
Kurt Angle is one of the four people to complete an amateur wrestling Grand Slam. He made his first WWE appearance in 1996 and signed a contract with the company in 1998.
Angle went on to have a successful WWE career. He won over half a dozen titles in the company before leaving the promotion due to health reasons in 2006.
The heavyweight star found success in his amateur wrestling career early on and this success apparently helped in launching his WWE career.
The former world champion talked about his first year on the latest episode of his Kurt Angle Show podcast, and revealed that he actually made $1 million during his debut year:
“You know what, my guarantee was $75,000, so I made well over that. What I was surprised about, and I promised J.R this when I accepted that contract, he said ‘you’re going to get $75,000 a year for five years.’
I signed the contract, I said ‘don’t worry about it because I’m going to make a million in my first year.’” said Kurt Angle, “He’s like, ‘whatever you say.’ So I did, I did make a million, which I’m really proud of.”
Kurt then revealed that the money did not come from merchandise sale as he was a heel at the time and the amount he was paid was mostly for wrestling:
“I wasn’t selling merchandise. They weren’t hopping off the shelves and people weren’t buying Kurt Angle stuff because I was a heel. So I didn’t make a lot on that. I got paid to wrestle and I got paid very well to do it.
So making a million dollars a year without any kind of merchandise, I made maybe 30 or 40 grand with merchandise, that was about it. I made a lot of money wrestling and I did exceed the goal that I told JR I would do.”
Kurt Angle is one of the four people to complete an amateur wrestling Grand Slam. He made his first WWE appearance in 1996 and signed a contract with the company in 1998.
Angle went on to have a successful WWE career. He won over half a dozen titles in the company before leaving the promotion due to health reasons in 2006.