Hulk Hogan had the most insane WCW contract in 1998

The contract WCW gave Hulk Hogan in 1998 was the most ludicrous thing in wrestling history

It’s no secret in the history of professional wrestling that WCW at the peak of the promotion was possibly the biggest wrestling company in the world, even topping WWE for a while in the mid-to-late 1990s. However, WCW is also the company whose questionable decisions ultimately ran the promotion into the ground to the point that they were out of business by March 2001.

You can point to many decisions that led to WCW’s demise, but it’s hard not to look at a recently released contract of their top star at the time—Hulk Hogan—and not see a pretty clear reason why the company would go under.

Hogan signed this contract with WCW in 1998, and it is the most absurd thing that most wrestling fans have ever seen:

1998 Hulk Hogan contract with WCW by indeedwrestling

For starters, it’s absolute insanity that WCW, even if they were being backed by the bankroll of Ted Turner, would give Hogan a $2 million signing bonus. But the absurdities don’t end there. Hogan was also given 25 percent of the gross ticket sales from Nitro and Thunder tapings whenever he was on one of the shows, in addition to 15 percent of pay-per-view sales or $675,000, depending on which was higher for PPVs he was on. There’s more, but you get the picture that WCW was grossly overpaying Hogan to stay with the company.

Now, I understand that Hogan was the top guy in WCW and his Hollywood Hulk Hogan run is one of the most iconic times in the history of professional wrestling. However, there is no way a company can be handing out that type of money and deem it a positive move for the promotion.

One of the parts that stands out almost more than the absurd amount of money that WCW threw Hogan’s way is the fact that they also gave him creative control over all of his matches. That means that if Hogan wanted to stay on the top of the card until the end of time, he had the choice to do so, which is an absolutely bonkers thing to allow a wrestler to have when you’re also selling the farm to pay him.

The product alone was enough to understand why WCW went under after WWE took control in the Monday Night Wars. When you see things like this Hogan contract, you almost wonder how they lasted until 2001.

H/T to r/squaredcircle