JBL Reveals Vince McMahon's Method For Paying WWE Talent

The Vince McMahon WWE payout formula was all about feel.

During a recent appearance on the Something to Wrestle podcast, JBL opened up and provided new insight and detail on how Vince McMahon handled talent payouts during his time with the company. JBL said that McMahon was a great payout guy, but that his formula for WWE payouts was total "bull****."

“Yes, of course he did," JBL said on whether or not Vince had a system for payouts. "He had a full methodology and it was 100% bullshit. 29%. I remember the number, went to the building, employees, and talent. That number may have been legit. I’m not saying that number is not legit, but how that number got dispersed was absolutely bullshit.”
JBL (h/t Fightful)

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McMahon also took a fine look at payouts for talent and adjusted based on feel. According to JBL, McMahon would use feel to determine a star's value and therefore how much money he'd payout to them.

“It was Vince. Vince would go through, and I’ve talked to guys who’ve done payroll, including [Gerry Brisco], and Vince would come through and go, ‘Nope. Change this to that. Change this to this.’ He would base it on what he thought guys were drawing, what he thought they were worth, the ticket sales he thought they sold, and where they were on the card. It was all feel.. That was 100% feel. To my knowledge, not many would bitch about paydays. Vince was a great pay guy, the best I ever saw.”
JBL (h/t Fightful)

Vince McMahon is no longer involved with WWE and hasn't been since resigning from his position of Executive Chairman for TKO Group amidst the lawsuit filed by Janel Grant.

McMahon is still embroiled in that lawsuit and remains on the outside of WWE. McMahon retired in 2022, but returned to facilitate a sale of his company to Endeavor. Upon purchasing WWE, Endeavor combined it with UFC to create what is now TKO Group.

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