When Eric Bischoff began offering huge guaranteed contracts to many of WWE's top stars in the 1990s, it completely changed the wrestling industry forever. Beginning with Hulk Hogan in 1994, Bischoff started luring away stars with promises of fewer matches, less travel, and a paycheck even if they missed time due to injury.

RELATED: 10 Huge WCW Contracts Eric Bischoff Wasted Money OnBefore long, a bidding war began to ensue, but as WCW brought in new stars like Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, the company became more profitable. However, Vince McMahon and WWE would soon begin a boom of their own and the monster deals Bischoff was handing out looked increasingly exorbitant. Unfortunately for Eazy E, the same strategy that made him look like a genius in 1996 was responsible for his demotion in 1999. Even worse for the Turner organization, with Bischoff gone, they were still on the hook for some big money, with some wrestlers receiving payouts months after WCW's closure in 2001.

10 Made Sense: The Giant, $1.2 Million, 1996-99

The Giant WCW

Fresh off the Witchita State University basketball team, when 22-year-old Paul Wight met Hulk Hogan for the first time in 1994, it was clear that the legit seven-footer had the potential to be one of wrestling's great future stars.

It was no surprise that when Wight made his debut as The Giant the following year on WCW television, he was immediately pushed to the moon in an angle with Hogan. However, his contract was severely undervalued at a fraction of what folks like Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall were earning. This was a major factor in his decision to sign a ten-year contract with WWE in early 1999, as the future Big Show would annually earn nearly as much as he made during his entire WCW stint.

9 Didn't Make Sense: Roddy Piper, $2.7 Million, 1996-2000

Roddy Piper in WCW

When "Rowdy" Roddy Piper arrived in WCW in late-1996 to confront a newly-heel Hulk Hogan, bookers counted on the two recapturing the same magic they created in WWE a decade prior. To recruit Piper, who was only wrestling a few times a year at that point, Eric Bischoff offered him a sweet deal: from 1996 through 2000, Piper made nearly $3 million for 30 matches, which breaks down to over $100k per bout.

While his first WCW encounter with Hogan at Halloween Havoc, followed by a (non-title) victory over his old rival at that year's Starrcade, helped generate additional buzz for the rising company, their cage match a year later at Halloween Havoc 1997 was a stinker. And while Piper still had the same fire and spark he exhibited in the 1980s, his body had broken down, and the rest of his tenure was a perfect example of the Law of Diminishing Returns.

8 Made Sense: Ric Flair, Just Under $2 Million,1996-2000

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WCW fans, especially those south of the Mason-Dixon line, loved Ric Flair. When the company signed Hulk Hogan in 1994, loyal fans of the Nature Boy would chant "WE WANT FLAIR!!!" in arenas like the Greensboro Colesium, rejecting WWE-style booking being forced upon them by creative teams that didn't understand or respect their long-standing traditions.

RELATED: 10 Most Embarrassing Moments Of Eric Bischoff's CareerFlair was continually the subject of contractual disrespect, and for the 16-time World Champion to have to be constantly fighting Eric Bischoff was insane. Fans bought tickets to see Ric Flair, and at only about $500k annually in the late-1990s, despite being a bit past his prime at that point, Flair was still a bargain, at least when he wasn't being sued by Bischoff for breach of contract.

7 Didn't Make Sense: Kevin Greene, $1 Million, 1996-98

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Mainstream celebrities and professional athletes have always had a complicated history in wrestling. At their best - such as Dennis Rodman (at first) in WCW or Mike Tyson in WWE - they can garner press from outlets that otherwise would never utter the words "professional wrestling." However, at their worst, they can be huge money drains that cause wrestling fans - who, believe it or not, usually watch wrestling for the wrestling - to tune out at a massive clip.

Kevin Greene, then an NFL star for the Carolina Panthers, was friends with Ric Flair when he first arrived in WCW in January 1996. He was involved in a few somewhat entertaining angles, although anybody who wasn't a fan of the NFL likely didn't care. Even though Greene was well-liked by much of the roster and did a pretty decent job, he still only wrestled a total of five matches for the company, and at $200k a clip, he was a very expensive part-timer.

6 Made Sense: Booker T, $2 Million, 1996-2000

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Booker T was one of the few WCW stars in the late-1990s ('Diamond' Dallas Page is another example) whose rise from the Tag Team division and mid-card to the main event was not only organic but well-deserved. When WCW closed its doors in March 2001, Booker was its champion, and the position helped cement his status when he signed with WWE for the Invasion storyline later that year.

A true workhorse, the former Harlem Heat member wrestled nearly 500 matches between 1996 and 2000, making his cumulative total of approximately $2 million a downright bargain. If the company ever felt they didn't get their money's worth out of Booker T, it was only because it took them too long to realize what they had in him.

5 Didn't Make Sense: Scott Hall, $1.7 Million, 1999-2000

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When Scott Hall and Kevin Nash joined WCW in 1996, they could have been paid their weight in gold, and it still would have been a bargain. The buzz their arrival and subsequent formation of the nWo created was priceless, and the company began making money hand over fist thanks to the red-hot angle.

By 1999, however, Hall's alcoholism was rearing its ugly head in a very public fashion, and over the next two years, he'd collect $1.7 million from Turner. Hall only competed in 32 matches between rehab stints, and when he was brought in along with Nash and Hulk Hogan to revive the nWo in WWE in 2002, Vince McMahon quickly learned from Eric Bischoff's mistake, letting Hall go after only a few months.

4 Made Sense: Eddie Guerrero, $1.2 Million, 1996-99

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Most fans today probably remember Eddie Guerrero more for his memorable stint in WWE before his tragic passing in 2005 than his work elsewhere, and that's understandable. The legendary Mexican-American wrestler was one of the company's most beloved superstars and had a tremendous backstory to boot.

Guerrero built his reputation as one of the industry's preeminent in-ring workers off his work in WCW and overseas. Despite earning $1.2 million total from 1996 through early 1999, he was grossly underpaid for his efforts. He wrestled a total of 313 matches - almost all of superior quality - for the company, and when he and fellow Radicalz Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn confronted Eric Bischoff over unfair treatment and a lack of upward mobility, Bischoff arrogantly told the four to take a hike, which actually worked out well for them.

3 Didn't Make Sense: Bret Hart, $6.75 Million, 1997-2000

Bret Hart's WCW Debut

There isn't much to be said about Bret Hart's WCW tenure that hasn't already been. The Hitman was wrestling's hottest star upon his arrival in December 1997 and should have gone on to continued success, but horrible booking and an eventual stiff kick to the head from Goldberg two years later didn't allow it.

RELATED: Every Wrestler That Beat Bret Hart For A World Championship, Ranked Worst To BestIronically, perhaps the least absurd thing about Bret's stint with the company was the one time they did something right. Despite not being cleared to wrestle after suffering continued symptoms from his infamous Starrcade match through the following January, Eric Bischoff continued to pay Bret's salary, meaning Hart made $1.5 million in 2000 for a total of six matches, which were probably six too many.

2 Made Sense: Most Big Contracts In 1997-98

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"You have to spend money to make money" is an old cliche in business, and like many cliches, it's one for a reason: it's often true. Investments in wrestlers are not inherently bad in wrestling. After all, if you don't have people to perform the labor, you don't have a business in the first place.

When WCW began turning a profit, to the tune of $8 million in 1997 and $30 million in 1998 (according to Dave Meltzer), their payroll didn't look too shabby. Even when things began to spiral out of control in late-1998, Eric Bischoff still was given the green light to make deals like signing the Warrior for huge sums of cash, because his exorbitant spending hadn't begun to negatively affect Turner's bottom line, yet.

1 Didn't Make Sense: Most Big Contracts in 1999-2000

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As 1998 rolled into 1999, danger was on the horizon. WCW's first six months were profitable, but the company ended up losing $9 million for the year. Suddenly, deals that Eric Bischoff had made under totally different circumstances - such as paying KISS $500k to score a 2.25 segment rating - made him look like the world's worst promoter.

With that said, 2000 made 1999 look like 1998 for WCW, as they lost $62 million and were on track to lose $80 million before Turner brass intervened and insisted they begin making major cuts. Not only did the losses completely erase any gains they had made in the prior two years, but they were also indicative of another major problem: WCW was inevitably a dying organization. Sadly, once Turner's acquisition by AOL Time Warner was in motion, there was no saving the once-profitable company.