Professional wrestling is a business at the end of the day, so financial issues always have a role to play in a performer’s morale. When WWE bought WCW and signed some of its stars, it caused some animosity.
Jim Ross, who is known for his role on the commentary team, was also in charge of talent relations. He dealt with wrestlers’ contracts, which was not always easy.
On his Hall Of Fame radio show, Booker T revealed that Jim Ross had some heat with a few wrestlers who came from WCW. They did not make as much money as they did in WCW and Booker T has now come to know that was an issue. However, Booker T did not have any problems with how much he earned.
“I can’t give JR a whole lot of heat — I head people talking about their downside when they came in from WCW. A lot of guys — I didn’t hear the stories then, but I hear them now because of the age of the internet, you know what I mean? On social media you hear these stories about ‘man, he offered me this much, he offered me this much.’ I remember the downside I got — I was happy as hell.”
“I was like, I’m cool with that. It wasn’t as much as I was making in WCW, but it was a whole lot of money. I was like I’m good with that, I’m good JR.”
Jim Ross told Booker T that “you can make as much as you want to make,” but it was different from WCW. Booker T realized WWE’s payment system differed from WCW and had no issues with the money he was earning.
Booker also noted Ross was not in an “envious spot” as he had to sign and also fire Superstars, which included even firing good friends.
