"I turned him down" – Former Champion says his refusal to join WWE disappointed John Laurinaitis

Former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon obtained several WCW wrestlers' contracts when he bought the company in 2001. Kid Kash, who worked for WCW at the time, recently explained why he rejected a deal with WWE.

John Laurinaitis apparently offered Kash a $65,000 annual salary to train at the Heartland Wrestling Association developmental territory in Cincinnati, Ohio. WWE's then-Head of Talent Relations could not guarantee the former ECW star that he would eventually make it to the main roster.

On Chris Van Vliet's Insight podcast, Kash said he later found out that Laurinaitis badmouthed him after he refused the contract offer:

"I turned him [John Laurinaitis] down, and I didn't think there was any hardship until later on when I heard through the grapevine that John Laurinaitis told people I did bad business, and he was disappointed in me and stuff and wanted to work with me but I do bad business, and he kept that up until the time I actually went to work for WWE [in 2005]."

According to Kash, Laurinaitis said his amount of time in developmental was difficult to predict. He could have spent anywhere from three weeks to six years at the Heartland Wrestling Association before being considered for the main roster.

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The main reason why Kid Kash rejected WWE

Legendary wrestling manager Jimmy Hart liked Kid Kash and was always there to lend advice when he needed it.

Kash, who made his name in ECW in the 1990s, recalled how he told the Hall of Famer about his reasons for rejecting John Laurinaitis' offer:

"I was like, 'Well, wait a minute, I was in ECW, I was a star there. I had a contract there; I had a good contract there. I signed with WCW; they gave me a really nice contract. I even had a guarantee to win the Light Heavyweight title.' That was even in my contract, so I was like, 'How do I go from this down to this? I don't think I can live off of that.'"

After three years in TNA/IMPACT, Kash finally joined WWE in June 2005. The 53-year-old worked for the company for 15 months before receiving his release in September 2006. He was let go by Laurinaitis after being caught smoking weed.

One of Kash's most memorable moments came in December 2005 when he won the Cruiserweight Championship from Juventud at Armageddon.

Do you have any memories of Kid Kash in the wrestling business? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Please credit Chris Van Vliet's Insight podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.