What were the issues that followed Jeff Jarrett and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin into WWE in 1997 and 1998?
During a recent edition of his “My World” podcast, Double J explained how it all dates back to the dying days of the Memphis Wrestling territory and the first check Austin ever received, which was for a small amount. Jarrett apparently walked up to Austin said, “Keep on staring at it boy … it ain’t going to make it any bigger.”
Featured below is an excerpt from the show where he touches on this topic with his thoughts.
“I remember it vividly. Let’s go down the story behind the story. Let’s go back in time. Should I have said it? Hell no because I had no idea and didn’t know until years later until these kinds of stories came out. I don’t even remember the first time hearing it, from Bruce (Prichard) and others, and I’m like, ‘Oh dear Lord.’ I was shocked. I was shocked in so many ways because Steve wasn’t the first person that I said that to.
“Matter of fact, you have to laugh about it because if you don’t, you’re going to cry over it. My paychecks were exactly what others were. We got $40 and this happened in Evansville, IN. We got paid on crappy houses, $40 bucks, in Louisville, Evansville, and Nashville. My father always tried to pay a little bit better in Memphis because the gross was bigger. There were a lot of $40 payoffs, and 7 times 40 is $280. So most guys got about $350 a week on the really crappy weeks.”
Check out the complete episode of the show at Apple.com. H/T to WrestlingNews.co for transcribing the above quotes.
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