So why DID the WWF pay Marc Mero so much?

[héad.casé]

In 1996, when the WWF signed Marc Mero, they paid him more than future WWF Champions Mick Foley and Stone Cold Steve Austin. The former of which made it clear that he didn't think Marc was worth what he was making.

Not that Mero was a bad wrestler or had a bad look, but what did the WWF see in him to pay him so much?

[celticjobber]

He was pretty over (especially with kids) as Johnny B. Badd in WCW. And he was pretty decent in the ring. Turns out all of his charisma hinged on being a Little Richard rip-off character that belonged to WCW.

[tms]

He had a great physique at a time when that meant a lot, and he could pull off some high-flying moves that hadn't been seen in the promotion at the time (his SSP and the still-impressive Merosault). I've never understood why Foley felt the need to go to the lengths he did to voice his disapproval with Mero and his pay. Speaking strictly in terms of talent, who would you pay more to: a guy that looks like a wrestler and can pull off some good moves, or a pear-shaped fat guy that probably can't even do a single pullup? That may seem harsh but I can't blame them for putting more into Mero at the time.

[Confused Mark Wahlberg]

Was Sable a part of the deal?

Vince probably saw some marketing opportunities with both.

[molson5]

Maybe Mero just played WCW and WWF against each other and got some extra cash out of it. Austin had just been fired by WCW, he had no leverage. Foley probably had some options, but I think at that point in his career he was looking for WWF money and the potential for bigger WWF money down the road, as opposed to working in bingo halls for sandwiches. So he might of gotten low balled a little because he needed the WWF more than they needed him at point.

My point is, salary is never perfectly correlated with value. Everybody has their own deal and there's always different circumstances to lead to each deal.

[Andrew is Good]

The rivalry with WCW was the main reason. Mero was the first to get a guaranteed contract after they felt there was a threat with WCW. My guess is Austin and Foley had either burned their bridge or were simply let go and weren't likely going back to WCW.

I think most of the main guys signed after this had the guaranteed contract after this, most of the main roster talent anyway.

So yeah, Mero had a lot that he brought to the table in WCW, and I feel with him it was simply the right place at the right time.

[RowdyRobbyPiper]

I loved Mero as Johnny B. Badd and he was over in WCW with that gimmick. It's a shame Sable overshadowed him because he was a decent worker.

[saintpat]

As noted, both Foley and Austin were coming from wrestling in a bingo-hall promotion -- if a one with a major cult following -- where neither was a bona fide main eventer even there. And both had burned WCW and done so publicly, so WWE could dangle minor change their way and it was still a big raise for them.

Mero wasn't bad by any stretch and was over in WCW. It didn't work out, but there's not always rhyme or reason why some guys work out and others don't -- no one at that point saw Austin as being on his way to becoming the biggest draw in the history of the game and Foley being able to reinvent himself in a new character -- truth be told, Cactus Jack at the time was probably regarded somewhere around where Tensai was when he signed with WWE recently.

I imagine there were people on the roster by the end of Foley's run who were grumbling that they were making less than him with his limited utility at that time.

[Deleted]

Johnny B. Badd was super over with the young'uns in WCW. WCW was selling that character hard, and it seemed like he had a ridiculous amount of charisma. I guess it turned out that Marc Mero was just really, really good in that character and sort of average in other ones.

The bigger question is why did they give a generic gimmick like "Wild Man" and not a gimmick that let him have a similar persona to Badd.

On a related note: I just had my mind blown upon discovering that he apparently did the Johnny B. Badd gimmick within the last decade in TNA?!

[andrew8798]

He was there for a short time

[andrewgilkison]

WWF had lost Nash and Hall to WCW so I guess when they had an opportunity to pick up a WCW wrestler who wanted to jump ship, Mero had some leverage.

[Deleted]

He's so pretty he should've been born a girl.

[Metalheadbanger Man]

They saw the "Wildman" as the future of the company.

[Deleted]

I was a Marc Mero fan. I couldn't tell you how much his deal was, but his stock skyrocketed when he started busting his butt and working hard to improve in the ring those last couple of years in WCW.
He was exciting to watch. I mean, he was no luchadore, but could blend a mat-style with a captivating aerial assault; that BTB Bodyblock was a beautiful thing to watch. Shame he got injured and had to reinvent his style.

I don't understand why Foley had to pick on him, when Mark Henry signed a little after the two and probably made more than almost the entire roster combined.

[evilone]

It's all about negotiating skills, can't hate the man because of it.

Seriously if you go back in time and put in the line Marc Mero, Foley and Steve Austin who would be your pick if you only had to pick one?

And anybody who says Austin is full of BS because Austin plain and simple sucked in WCW. He was bad as Hollywood Blond, couldn't match Pillman in like anything, and his single matches dragged and bored the hell out of me. As a matter of fact Austin got "x-pac heat" from me before there was X-Pac. He had a feud with Ricky and he couldn't deliever, once again it was boring to watch, but when he lost that US title in a squash to Hacksaw that's when I first got excited watching SA ever!
I think that is the reason I never bought Stone Cold cause I can't get the image of him rolling that imaginary camera out of my head.

[The Dark Order Inferno]

Nov 9, 2012 22:47:56 GMT -5 @wvguitar said:

Johnny B. Badd was super over with the young'uns in WCW. WCW was selling that character hard, and it seemed like he had a ridiculous amount of charisma. I guess it turned out that Marc Mero was just really, really good in that character and sort of average in other ones.

The bigger question is why did they give a generic gimmick like "Wild Man" and not a gimmick that let him have a similar persona to Badd.

He was the prototype developmental guy it seems, the blueprint for all those flawed powerplant/dsw/early FCW guys as his training left him unprepared to play any other character but Badd. The WWF threw money at him as he did seem like a great performer, when in reality he didn't know how to show the charisma he had playing any other role.

I think letting Mero use a JBB-alike character would have made their suit against WCW claiming Hall and Nash infringe their WWF characters that little bit harder to win, and would have opened them up for a countersuit.

[RowdyRobbyPiper]

Any love for Mero's feud in WCW with the Honky Tonk Man? I loved the goofiness of Little Richard vs. Elvis.

[Drillbit Taylor]

Nov 9, 2012 22:53:34 GMT -5 andrewgilkison said:

WWF had lost Nash and Hall to WCW so I guess when they had an opportunity to pick up a WCW wrestler who wanted to jump ship, Mero had some leverage.

I thought Mero came in a few months before they left. Because he and HHH brawled at WM.

[héad.casé]

I remember just before that brawl with Triple H at Wrestlemania, the brief promo he cut, I thought he was coming in as a heel. I only knew him as Johnny B Badd so it was strange seeing him so intense.

[Sam Punk]

Nov 10, 2012 11:04:03 GMT -5 Drillbit Taylor said:

Nov 9, 2012 22:53:34 GMT -5 andrewgilkison said:

WWF had lost Nash and Hall to WCW so I guess when they had an opportunity to pick up a WCW wrestler who wanted to jump ship, Mero had some leverage.

I thought Mero came in a few months before they left. Because he and HHH brawled at WM.

They had agreed to a deal with WCW but still had to finish out their WWF contracts.