Jim Ross Recalls What Triple H Said After Being Offered WWE Contract With $1 Million Downside
During a recent episode of the Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross covered the Backlash 2000 pay-per-view which featured The Rock vs. Triple H in the main event of the show for the WWF Championship with Shane McMahon as the special guest referee. Ross talked about the match and The Game celebrating 25 years in WWE.
"I liked the match," Ross said. "You can make an argument there was too much interference, too much outside elements at play that may have cluttered it. I like what Dwayne and Hunter did. They had good chemistry.
"I saw a few weeks ago Hunter being acknowledged for celebrating 25 years in the wrestling business, 25 years in WWE. The Rock had acknowledged it which is nice. They had good chemistry, they were on the same page."
Ross also told a story about a time when he had re-signed Triple H to a new deal with the company. J.R. noted that the downside was $1 million, and Triple H responded to the figure by wanting to ensure that he was the highest paid star on the roster.
"It was Evansville, Indiana, he and I were sitting on an anvil case hammering out the final arrangements on his new contract to where he got the magic number," Ross said. "$1 million a year and he deserved it. Vince did not authorize me to do those $1 million dollar downsides very often. Hunter got his and he deserved it.
"For some reason, I remember him saying to me 'Are you sure nobody has a better deal?' and I said 'Yeah, I'm very sure, are you doubting me?' and he said 'No, I just want to make sure', so 'Okay, you're sure. Nobody in this company has a bigger downside guarantee than you will have when you sign that contract, is that what you wanted to hear?'. Then he shook my hand and off we went. Now if he made $1 million a year it would be a giant cut in pay."
Just to put it into context, if you were to include his performance as a in-ring performer and an office talent, Triple H made around $3,328,092 in 2019.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Grilling JR with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.