A copy of a contract has leaked and it shows that in late 1997 the World Wrestling Federation owner Vince McMahon offered The Ultimate Warrior a 5 year contract and $750,000 minimum guarantee compensation.
That’s quite a deal, considering that Warrior was let go in 1996 after no-showing a couple of house shows, but keep in mind that the WWF didn’t win a single week of the weekly Monday Night TV ratings war and were in the middle of their rival company WCW having a 84 week winning streak.
Imagine all the legendary feuds we could’ve gotten if Warrior actually came back in 1997???
Warrior/Bret, Warrior/Shawn, Warrior/Austin, Warrior/Rock, Warrior/HHH, Warrior/Mankind, Warrior/Kane, …
We’re talking legendary feuds, not by IWC Smark nerd standards as they only wanna count moves & support indy style spotfests, but we’re talking PROFESSIONAL wrestling here, which is ENTERTAINMENT ONLY and about drawing the most money, regardless of moves, holds & high spots.
Warrior was already a huge name and a larger than life legend at that point, so those feuds would’ve drawn a lot of money for sure.
Below is what the contract letter read:
“December 17, 1997
Mr. Jim Hellwig
ULTIMATE CREATIONS
10320 N. Scottsdale Road
Scottsdale, AZ 85253
Dear Jim:
I am prepared to offer you the following:
TERM: 5 YEARS
MINIMUM GUARANTEE COMPENSATION: SEVEN HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS PLUS ROYALTIES
ROYALTY RATE: ROYALTIES TO BE PAID ON A 35% BASIS ON MERCHANDISE (EVERYONE ELSE IS PAID ON 25%) PLUS, STANDARD LICENSING RATE
WORKING DAYS: 14 PER MONTH FOR EVERYTHING
Jim, this deal is far more lucrative to you then our last agreement of 1996, and obviously, far more long term.
I look forward to building the resurgeance of the Ultimate Warrior again.
Sincerely,
Vince”
Below is a photo of this:
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