“That gig paid $50,000 to do WrestleMania” - When MLB icon Pete Rose joined Vince McMahon’s then-valued $172,500,000 WWE empire after betting drama
Pete Rose has been surrounded by controversy since his retirement. Betting scandals, as well as a potentially underaged partner, have followed him and effectively kept the all-time hits leader out of the MLB Hall of Fame.
Ironically, Rose is in another Hall of Fame: the WWE Hall. This is not exactly an exclusive club, as many non-wrestlers have made the Hall of Fame thanks to their contributions to wrestling, and Rose did.
After those aforementioned betting scandals, which included making a ton of bets (he insists he only ever bet on his team to win) on his own team. MLB has issued a lifetime ban for Rose, largely because of those scandals.
Betting is all about money, and when he was presented an opportunity to join what was then a $172 million company in the WWE, he took it. From 1998 to 2000, the former Cincinnati Reds legend appeared semi regularly on Wrestlemania.
He once revealed to 411 Mania that he made a good bit of money from this. He was effectively paid to get beat up on live television, but it was good money:
"Well, it’s strictly a retired baseball player getting a gig, and that gig paid $50,000 to do WrestleMania, and let me tell you something about WrestleMania. I say this constantly. I have never met a wrestler there that wasn’t a good guy. Backstage, Big Show, Undertaker, Stone Cold, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, they’re all great guys behind the scenes.
"I love the wrestlers. They’re entertainers. They understand they got a good gig going. I watch them a couple of times a week now. I root for Charlotte, Ric Flair’s my buddy."
In today's money, that $50,000 looks a lot bigger, too. That 1998 payment of $50,000 has almost doubled in today's money. The inflation calculator estimates that that total is now worth over $93,000.
What is Pete Rose's net worth?
While it may have cost him his Hall of Fame entry, Pete Rose made a lot of money gambling. He also made a lot of money playing baseball, as well as doing other things- like a WWE appearance.
All told, the former Philadelphia Phillies star is worth about $3 million today, well after his baseball career ended.