Matt Hardy is giving fans a detailed look at how little money the Hardy Boyz were making during the early days of their WWE careers before becoming one of wrestling’s most iconic tag teams.
Speaking on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, Hardy broke down the exact pay structure from both his earliest WWE appearances and the first contracts he signed alongside Jeff Hardy.
Before signing official contracts, the brothers worked as enhancement talent during WWE television tapings in the mid-1990s.
“Even getting our foot in the door at WWE, as extra work, as enhancement talent, we would make $150 a night.”
According to Hardy, those appearances included tapings for Raw, Superstars, and Wrestling Challenge during an era when WWE often recorded multiple weeks of television at once.
Their first real WWE developmental deal arrived in early 1998 through Jim Ross and Bruce Prichard. Hardy revealed the contract paid just $300 per week plus appearance fees.
“Our developmental deal… was $300 a week, and then we would make $300 per appearance.”
At the time, WWE also covered rental cars and hotels while the Hardys remained developmental talent.
Things changed after the Hardy Boyz started gaining momentum through their matches against Edge and Christian Cage at live events. WWE soon committed to them as a full-time act and paired them with Michael Hayes.
That led to the brothers signing their first major WWE roster contracts in 1999. Hardy revealed the year-by-year downside guarantee structure from the deal.
“We signed a regular deal… $75,000, $75,000, year three $200,000, year four $125, year five $150.”
Hardy also explained how downside guarantees worked at the time, giving talent a financial safety net if bookings failed to reach the guaranteed amount.
“We’re guaranteed to make 75. If one of our bookings didn’t equal up to 75… then they owed us the difference.”
However, Hardy noted that once they officially moved onto the main roster, WWE stopped covering many travel expenses, including hotels for house shows and eventually rental cars as well.
“They were making so much money, they took it away from us.”
Looking back, Hardy praised the downside guarantee system because it offered wrestlers at least some financial security while still rewarding performers who became major attractions.
The figures may sound modest by modern wrestling standards, but those contracts laid the foundation for the Hardy Boyz becoming one of WWE’s most influential and successful tag teams during the Attitude Era.
