Sting Says He Was Making $52,000 A Year With NWA, Ric Flair Advocated For Him To Get A Raise

Sting quickly ascended the ranks in the National Wrestling Alliance, working against NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair less than a year into joining the promotion.

Speaking on the Hunter, Jessica & Cush podcast, Sting reflected on his rise and the pay that came along with it.

“Sometimes you’re wrestling nine or ten times a week and at the very beginning, for a TV taping, you’re making $25. For a match, you’re lucky to get $40, $45, $50. $65 was a really good payoff. I’m talking about the curtain-jerker guys, like I was. You’re just learning, you’re brand new, you’re green. No money at all. That kind of stayed with me all the way through, even wrestling Ric Flair for the World Title. I’m driving, Ric is on the private jet flying in and out with Dusty and the Four Horsemen. One trip, we were going from Charlotte, North Carolina to Richmond, Virginia. I was booked on the jet that day, but at the last minute, I was asked to get off because there were not quite enough seats. I got in the car with Rick Steiner and we drove 100 miles an hour to get up there. We barely made it.

“I was in the main event against Flair. I talked to Ric that day, I said to Ric, ‘You need to help me out. I’m on a $52,000 per year contract working main event matches with you, World Title matches, there are bandanas and t-shirts with my face on it everywhere.’ He goes, ‘I’ll say something.’ He did. Jim Crockett approached me and said, ‘You’re going to notice a little something different in your paycheck from now on.’ That year, I made $64,000.”

Sting would win his first NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship by defeating Flair in 1990.

Elsewhere durig the interview, Sting praised Kevin Knight and more in AEW. You can find his full comments here. 

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