Former WCW president Eric Bischoff recently held a Q&A session on his 83 Weeks podcast. Bischoff was asked about Virgil's six-figure WCW contract.
Virgil signed with WCW in 1996 and was named the head of security for nWo. Bischoff said he respected Virgil's career in WWE prior to leaving the company, so he made him a solid offer.
"First of all he wasn't that expensive. He was a recognizable character; he had name value, he was recognized for all of the time that he spent in WWE, or WWF at the time," Bischoff said. "He was a talented guy. He wasn't getting high seven figures, or mid-six figures."
Virgil made a little over $100,000 a year during his WCW run even though he hardly ever wrestled. Despite fans thinking he was undeserving of that contract, Bischoff said it was justified because Virgil was actually on the lower end of the company's pay scale.
"Look, I know people sitting at home that are working at most normal, non-entertainment jobs hearing those numbers thinking that it was a ton of money, but keep in mind that they are independent contractors, which means that they are taxed at 38 percent at that," Bischoff said. "They have to pay for most of their own expenses on the road, especially a guy like Virgil did, so as much as $138,000 a year sounds like a lot of money--and it is, until you start deducting taxes and road expenses, it really wasn't that much money who spent as much time as Virgil had on WWF television."
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