The Rock Asked For $1million More Than Steve Austin On First WWE Contract Renegotiation

The rivalry between Steve Austin and The Rock is one of the most celebrated in WWE history, their feud helping to define the Attitude Era as they clashed three times at WrestleMania (twice in the main event).

They were as competitive outside of the ring as inside of it, with Dwayne Johnson recently detailing how he asked for double Stone Cold's downside guarantee when it came time to renegotiate his first WWE contract with Vince McMahon.

Speaking to Patrick Bet David, Rock said:

"It's time to renegotiate. About three years later, as I became The Rock, he wanted to renegotiate my contract two to three years in. A couple of wrestlers at that time had their own agents. I chose not to have an agent. He said, 'Are you going to have an agent? Are you looking for an agent?' 'I'm not. I'd like to negotiate with you directly. How we met was with a handshake, and I believe how we're going to do this is with a handshake'. 

"Handshakes are very important to me. I always say my handshake is better than anything I ever sign. He said, 'Great. I love that. I respect it. What are you thinking?'. I said, 'Who is the highest paid, if you don't mind me asking. Between us, who is the highest paid on the roster?'. He said, 'Stone Cold Steve Austin'. 'What's his guarantee?' 'One million dollars'. 'I want two'. 'Two million?'. 'Yes.' 'Guaranteed?' 'Yes'. He said, 'I'm just curious, where do you get that from? What are you figuring in your mind'. 'I love Steve, I respect him. If he's getting a million dollars. Where I see myself going is past a million dollars. I think it should be two'. 

"He went, 'I understand that logic. Here's what I want you to do. I'm going to put you in contact with one of our executives. I need you to take a couple of months to understand the business. I need you to understand this side of the business from top to bottom. All of the economics. Understand our costs, overhead, look at what's allocated. Take the time and put in the work that you say you're committed to, in the ring, I respect that. Now, I want you to learn the business. Once you learn this business, then come back to me and we'll talk'".

Continuing, Johnson noted that he did just that and came back to the negotiating table with a lower number.

"(I learned) what the overhead costs were, what the costs are of the venue, what the state tax is, the allocation for the wrestlers, the percentage of the gate. I didn't take three months. It was maybe two weeks. It was baptism by fire, and I learned to absorb as much as I could about the business. I went back to Vince, I thanked him and gave him a big hug. I said, 'I understand now. I'd like to match it at a million dollars, what Steve is getting. Thank you for taking me through it'. We had a great conversation and he said, 'How much do you think you're going to make this year?' 'My guarantee is a million. I've been averaging about 50% over my guarantee. So, maybe 1.5?'. He said, 'Now that you've taken yourself through that and understand the business, you're going to make $15 million'. He did the math and could see where it goes. 'You'll make $15 million'. By the time we had 1999-2000, wrestling has a boom period", he said.

Johnson has made significantly more than $15 million through wrestling, movies, endorsements and other business ventures over the past quarter of a century. He currently sits on the WWE Board of Directors and may be gearing up for a WrestleMania showdown with Cody Rhodes.

H/T Fightful