Scott Hall Says He's Making Six Figures From NWO Merchandise

As a guest on the latest episode of the 83 Weeks Podcast, Scott Hall joined the show to talk about his negotiations with WCW in 1996. Hall recalls hearing about his friend X-Pac receiving a major contract offer from WCW. The first member of nWo noted that even though he was one of the top stars in WWE at the time, he was looking to maximize his value and make the most money possible.

"The way I remember things getting started was X-Pac was in Barry Bloom's office in [Los Angeles] and Barry had had his conversation with Eric about [X-Pac] coming in," Hall said. "The thing is, when you're working for Vince [McMahon] and you're in a top spot like Razor was at that time, you're so busy making shows and if you're lucky enough to make it to a top position, then you're doing all the extra stuff. You're doing the free meet and greets` for a big sponsor, you're here you're there, you're at a kids hospital.

"These are all great things to be a part of but it takes up a lot of time. I was sitting around thinking about what my fair market value, thinking about man do I have time to eat before I get to the building. When I heard what [WCW] offered [X-Pac] I remember going 'Damn, find out how bad they want me.' To me, that's what started the ball rolling, I had no intention of even thinking about leaving but I remember when I found out how much they were offering Kid, I said damn. That's what started rolling for me."

Hall said he quickly called X-Pac's agent and made him represent him in contract talks with WCW. The two-time WWE Hall of Famer also shared how WWE was not offering anywhere close to the money he was being offered in WCW.

"Now I'm signed with Barry and he's negotiating with WCW and he's going 'Well, they offered this and this and this for so many days,' " Hall said. "I said shit, where do I sign? [Barry said] 'And I said never mind, you'll just stay where you are.' And I was like whoa, I would've taken that! That's why he's so good at his job, he held out and negotiated and it's a lot different when you're negotiating with Ted Turner's money versus Vince McMahon's money.

"When I first started for Vince, they were weathering the steroid scandal, houses were down, business was down, morale was down, everything was horrible. Ted Turner had so much money, he was just producing a wrestling show just to have programming for his T.V. networks."

Although Hall shared his complaints about the way he was treated and paid in WWE at the time, the Hall of Famer shared how much money he's been making off his merchandise with WWE even to this day. The 62-year-old laughed about the fact that he's been paid well by WWE to this day by nWo merchandise alone.

"I mean I'm making 6 figures just off [merchandise]," Hall said. "And every once and a while, yanno when you make an appearance, you make more. The funny part is, now that I hardly ever work for them or hardly do anything, the payoffs are way better, it's always first class air fare, they always have a driver at the airport. When I was filling seats for them and traveling all around the world, I couldn't get shit. I was sitting in the back, in the middle seat, back when they had smoking seats.

"Four guys piling into a Ford Taurus that we paid for ourselves, staying in the Motel 4, because we're paying for our own hotel. It's just like when you don't need the money when they give it to you. I came into WCW with a nice fat contract, thank you E, first class air, rental cars, everything. I can afford it now, I can afford my own room, I can afford my own car, but when you can afford it, it's free. When I was starving to death and sleeping three to a room, there was no help then."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 83 Weeks with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.