10 Ridiculous Reasons WWE Stars Had Backstage Heat

2. Signing a guaranteed contract

It might be hard to get your head around now, given how his WWE career ultimately turned out, but Marc Mero was hot property in the mid-1990s. Vince McMahon wanted the former Johnny B Badd so badly that he signed Mero to a guaranteed contract, something that was practically unheard of at the time. 

While The Wildman was used to getting guaranteed money from WCW, WWE contracts were structured differently with any guarantees being a token payment for television tapings and the real cash being dished out based on how well the business was doing and how much a performer contributed to that fact. 

Mero sauntering in with a six-figure deal naturally rubbed some the wrong way, in particular his former WCW colleagues Steve Austin and Mick Foley. They weren’t really angry at Marvellous Marc, per se, more that the boss saw more upside in him and rewarded him accordingly. Some of those in the locker room who resented Mero’s agreement found pleasure in him failing to live up to what McMahon believed was main-event potential and neither he nor his then-wife Sable were missed when they decided to collectively quit.