Jim Ross knows a thing or two about royalty checksand according to him, nobody worked the WWE merch game like Stone Cold Steve Austin.
During a recent episode of Grilling JR, Ross opened up about WWEs royalty structure in light of Mark Mero sharing his 2019 payout. But when the topic turned to Austin, JR made it clear: the Texas Rattlesnake didnt just get luckyhe built a merchandising empire with his own two hands.
While other superstars were content to wear a shirt to the ring and call it a day, Austin was obsessively involved with his branding, especially his legendary Austin 3:16 designs.
Ross added that the company originally had terrible ideas for Austins name, and that the Hall of Famers resistance to WWEs suggestions paid offliterally.
But it wasnt just branding smarts that made Austin a merch king. It was his hustle.
Ross revealed that Austins attention to detail turned into serious dollars. He made a ton of money on his royalties, JR said, adding that keeping talent happy often came down to giving them more control and more of the pie.
In a business where most wrestlers left money on the table, Steve Austin built his fortune by betting on himselfand cashing in hard. Now in todays guaranteed-contract world, JR admitted the game may have changed, but Austins strategy is still something younger wrestlers could learn from.
If you were a wrestler, would you rather have full creative control over your merch or just take the check and let WWE handle it? Drop your thoughts in the comments belowwe wanna hear from you.
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