Chris Jerico discusses the details of his first WWE contract.
When Chris Jericho arrived at WWE in 1999, he was already an established name worldwide, but he was ready to take his career to the next level. Arriving at a time when the ratings battle between WWE and WCW was still at the forefront of the minds of those working in the industry, Jericho was looking to head to WWE as they were running away with the Monday Night War in hopes of not only increasing his star power but eventually increasing the amount of money in his bank account.
Speaking on a recent episode of Talk is Jericho, Jericho revealed that his first WWE contract was guaranteed at $450,000. While Jericho admits he was primarily concerned about the opportunity rather than the financial guarantee, he says that he was making more than some established WWE names, giving him a target on his back.
"Walking into that dressing room, I had a fairly good guarantee: I got paid $450 grand a year guaranteed to come in, which was a lot less than WCW was offering me, but I didn’t care about the money. I just cared about the opportunity. It was a lot more than a lot of people were making in WWE so at the time, guaranteed contracts were just starting to become a thing, which is so laughable when you think about it now. I have kind of a target on my back of this ‘hot young upstart coming in, he’s interrupting The Rock, he’s got this big push, this big contract.’ There was kind of a lot of odds stacked against me when I first walked into the dressing room."
Chris Jericho was loyal to WWE for 20 years before helping launch AEW, where he still works today. Fans can learn more about Jericho's AEW deal here.
Chris Jericho made WWE Superstars tap out to the Walls of Jericho for two decades. However, he had a different name in mind for the move when he first came in. Learn more here.
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