A WWE Hall of Famer has shared the amount he was paid for an iconic bout at WrestleMania 3 and fans can’t believe it.
John Cena was paid an extortionate sum by WWE in 2006, as professional wrestling became a mainstream success.
Vince McMahon would often throw money around, with Brock Lesnar turning down eight-figures from WWE.
Fans couldn’t believe their eyes when a WWE Hall of Famer shared what he earned from WrestleMania in 1987.
Ricky Steamboat was paid $50,000 for a WWE match in 1987
Ricky Steamboat’s son shared his WrestleMania 3 paycheck, which saw him earn $49,000 for his match with Randy Savage.
It’s widely considered the best match on the card, and one of the greatest matches of all time, but fans are still shocked by how much the star earned.
“For one match at WrestleMania -wow!,” said one fan on X. “He got 49k for Mania 3. Imagine what they get now for Mania now!”
Steamboat was a relative mid-carder in WWE at the time and he defeated Savage for the Intercontinental Championship on the show.
Another said: “50k for one match back then was a lot of dough in 1987!”, while one wrote: “He got paid! 50k back then would be 500k today.”
WrestleMania 3 was main evented by Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant at the Pontiac Silverdome, and featured the Hulkster bodyslamming the giant.
Who is the highest earner in WWE today?
According to Sports Illustrated, the top two earners in WWE currently are Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar.
The Tribal Chief and The Beast Incarnate both earn $5 million a year, and they both earn $1 million more than the next highest earner.
Randy Orton is supposedly the third-highest earner, pocketing $4 million a year from WWE for his role as The Viper.
AJ Styles and Cody Rhodes prop up the list, with $3 million a year from WWE for their work in the squared circle.