wrestling / News

Jim Ross on Tully Blanchard Almost Returning to WCW in 1990, NWA Trying to Change the Contract at the Last Minute

February 9, 2020 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Arn Anderson Tully Blanchard Image Credit: WWE

On the latest Grilling JR, Jim Ross discussed how Tully Blanchard almost returned to WCW in 1990 before the company tried to change his contract terms at the last second and scuttled the deal. In 1990, Blanchard was a free agent after the WWF let him go over a failed drug test. According to reports, Blanchard agreed to a deal with WCW and was going to sign it at Clash of the Champions X, but when he got there the company had changed the contract from $156,000 per year for 176 dates to $156,000 for 300 dates. Blanchard balked at the deal and WCW said that the deal was only good until the show began at 8 PM. Blanchard obviously didn’t sign and didn’t come back to the company until a one-time appearance at Slamboree 1994.

Highlights from the discussion are below, along with the full podcast:

On the bait and switch regarding the contract: “That was a deal where [Jim] Herd was going to take care of the deal. It was gonna be his thing, and get this done. It was a cluster. And that’s not how you negotiate, and you don’t bait and switch. We could have used Tully. And Ric [Flair] did the right thing by endorsing Tully. I don’t think anybody on the [booking] committee had any issues whatsoever in bringing a great talent like Tully Blanchard back into the fold.”

On why they offered that combination of money and dates: “Well, the thought was, I believe, from Herd and upper management and the accounting people, was that $3,000 a week would be our top offer for that level. And the only guys that would make more would be maybe Flair, Sting, Luger-type guys. Singles. So they were offering them three grand a week to make $156,000 a year … Conrad, bottom line, it’s just bad business. Bad business practices, unprofessional. But again, if you go back into that era of WCW. Look at all the cooks that passed through the kitchen. Everybody gets a chance to season the soup. And at the end of the day, the soup don’t taste worth a damn.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.