WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley might have had a legendary wrestling career but now he has revealed the gamble he took when he joined WWE by discussing his first contract with the company.
Mick Foley had spent years in WCW and Japan working as Cactus Jack before getting a move to the World Wrestling Federation in 1996. Foley debuted the night after WrestleMania 12 as the deranged Mankind, instantly targetting his most memorable rival, The Undertaker.
Now speaking to Dr. Beau Hightower during one of his famous chiropractic adjustments, the three-time WWE Champion has discussed the risk he was taking by joining the promotion as his first contract was worth minimal amounts of guaranteed money:
“I was guaranteed $25 a night. The contract that I signed for WWE. I was guaranteed five matches a year at $150 for five years. So if they [had] chosen not to push me then I could have been in a position where I can’t go anywhere else. I’m locked in for five years, but this is the place to go, WWE.”
Mick Foley then explained that Marc Mero, who had defected from WCW, was the first star to sign a significant guaranteed deal with WWE and that the Wildman’s deal was signed in the same week as Foley’s:
“Luckily, Marc Mero got that contract. He got it about three days after I signed for nothing. $750 a year. I said ‘Yeah I was guaranteed 750’ and they went ‘per year?’ ‘Yeah’, ‘That’s a lot. $750,000.’ I said ‘No, no, $750.’ That’s what I was guaranteed.”
Mick Foley also ran down the worst injuries of his fabled wrestling career, naming a top-five list that is sure to make your toes curl.