The Rock once demanded double the salary of his WWE rival Stone Cold Steve Austin and got a major shock from boss Vince McMahon.

Austin and Rock were both major stars of WWE’s famed Attitude Era and battled together on screen across several years.

Battling, starring and ultimately succeeding in one of professional wrestling’s biggest ever boom periods was, understandably, extremely lucrative.

That’s why Dwayne Johnson, three years into his WWE career, recognised the worth of the emerging character of The Rock, even if he couldn’t possibly have foreseen just how big the company would get in the following years.

In a revealing interview with Patrick Bet David, the wrestler turned Hollywood megastar explained he’d first worked for Vince McMahon on a contract worth $150,000 – no small sum, he admitted, but also not enough to leave a performer with a fortune after funding their own hotels and costs.

With his deal ready to be renegotiated, he sat down for talks with Vince McMahon and asked the boss what the company’s biggest star at the time – Austin – was earning.

He explained: “I said, ‘Who is the highest paid, if you don’t mind me asking. Between us, who is the highest paid on the roster?’ He said ‘Stone Cold Steve Austin.”

Rock added he went on to ask: ‘What’s his guarantee[d wage]?’ to which McMahon replied: ‘One million dollars.’

The Moana star said he went on to press for double that at $2m, to which McMahon quizzed in response: ‘I’m just curious, where do you get that from? What are you figuring in your mind.’

Rock went on to say he replied: ‘I love Steve, I respect him. If he’s getting a million dollars. Where I see myself going is past a million dollars. I think it should be two.

“’He [McMahon] went: ‘I understand that logic. Here’s what I want you to do. I’m going to put you in contact with one of our executives. I need you to take a couple of months to understand the business. I need you to understand this side of the business from top to bottom. All of the economics. Understand our costs, overhead, look at what’s allocated. Take the time and put in the work that you say you’re committed to, in the ring, I respect that. Now, I want you to learn the business. Once you learn this business, then come back to me and we’ll talk.”

In typical Rock style, the Floridian didn’t take two months to immerse himself in the financial mechanics of the wrestling industry, but instead undertook a crash course over a two-week period to soak in as much as he could.

 

With the benefit of those numbers in mind, he returned for further talks with his WWE boss, who left him with a major shock.

“It was maybe two weeks. It was baptism by fire, and I learned to absorb as much as I could about the business. I went back to Vince, I thanked him and gave him a big hug. I said: ‘I understand now. I’d like to match it at a million dollars, what Steve is getting. Thank you for taking me through it.’

“We had a great conversation and he said: ‘How much do you think you’re going to make this year?’

“[I said]: ‘My guarantee is a million. I’ve been averaging about 50% over my guarantee. So, maybe 1.5?’

“He said: ‘Now that you’ve taken yourself through that and understand the business, you’re going to make $15 million.’

“He did the math and could see where it goes. ‘You’ll make $15 million.’”

 

It’s safe to say, with The Attitude Era in full flow and Rock, Austin and the likes of Triple H and Mick Foley all helping to bring in big business to WWE, McMahon was proved right.

Decades later and with experience from his in-ring days and Hollywood success under his belt, Rock has a reported net worth of $800m, with big paydays from the wrestling world still rolling in.