5 WWE Superstars who were allegedly refused a pay raise

#2 Former WWE Women’s Champion Chyna

Following his story about Sable wanting more money after WWE Unforgiven: In Your House, Jim Ross also revealed that he found himself in a similar situation with Chyna (real name Joanie Laurer) in the late 1990s.

As one of the original members of D-Generation X, Chyna was often involved in prominent storylines alongside Triple H and Shawn Michaels.

After she grew in popularity and became a more important part of WWE’s shows, The Ninth Wonder of the World told Ross that she wanted to earn the same amount as WWE’s highest-paid Superstar at the time, Steve Austin.

“I had the same issue with Joanie, with Chyna. ‘I want a contract that’s equal to Austin’s.’ ‘Well, Joanie, you’re not going to get that.’ ‘Well, I don’t know why. I’m as popular as he is.’ … ‘Look, you’re not going to get it. I’m not even going to go to Vince [McMahon] with that number because he’ll think you’re crazy.’”

Ross said on another episode of his Grilling JR podcast that Chyna wanted to be paid a guaranteed $1 million per year at one stage.

He explained that she likely earned that figure in some of her years in WWE, including PPV pay-offs and other add-ons, but he felt that a $1m downside was too high.