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Chris Jericho Recalls Factors That Led Him To Leave WCW

December 5, 2022 | Posted by Jack Gregory
AEW Dynamite Chris Jericho Image Credit: AEW

On a recent episode of Talk Is Jericho, Chris Jericho spoke with his former manager, Barry Bloom, about his history with WCW and the events that ultimately led to his signing by WWE (then WWF). The pair reminisced about the promotion negotiations and comparative contracts offered to other wrestlers at the time (via Fightful). You can read a few highlights and listen to the full episode for additional details below.

Jericho on WCW’s contract negotiations at the time: “They didn’t see in me what I saw in me and even the deal, remember the deal they offered me? They came back with a new deal. I was making, I think I went from 135(K) to 165(K) to 200(K). Then next round was 250(K), 300(K), 350(K). That was what we agreed on. Then they came back with this whole, remember the tiered contract system? Keep in mind, that’s a lot of money, but in WCW, Scott Norton and Stevie Ray and those types of guys were making 750 grand. 350 for me, wasn’t really all that much money in comparison to the other guys. They came back with that deal, it was structured, ‘if they sell this many tickets, you’ll make this much.’”

Bloom on why the contract offer wasn’t tempting: “It was very complicated. It was designed to make you satisfied with a lesser guarantee, with a possibility of an upside. It was really something that didn’t make a lot of sense at the time. It wasn’t even a discretionary bonus, they were fixed. It was complicated and really didn’t work. I know that WWE was very interested.”

Jericho on how then-WWF approached him: “Yes, I even had the meeting at Vince’s house, which was unbelievable. I was under contract with WCW and Vince brought me to his house. I had already made up my mind that I wanted to go to work for WWF.”

article topics :

Chris Jericho, WCW, WWE, Jack Gregory