Rico Costantino looks back on his exit from WWE.
In November 2004, WWE unexpectedly released Rico Costantino, also known as Rico, from the company. The move came as a surprise to Rico, especially given his regularity on the road with WWE. Around the same time, the former WWE Tag Team Champion had also asked his boss, former WWE CEO Vince McMahon, for a raise.
“Yeah,” Rico told Insight With Chris Van Vliet when asked if his firing surprised him, “and I went and asked Vince for a raise because I had already fulfilled my three-year rookie contract. I’ve held the tag titles twice, once with Rikishi, once with Haas. I was going to almost every show and on TV. I said I want $1,000 a week.”
At the time of his WWE departure, Rico received the company’s minimum $75,000 yearly salary, which he hoped to increase with an extra $52,000 (or $1,000 per week).
“I thought I was worth it,” Rico said. “Charlie [Haas] and I and Jackie were about to come out on the SmackDown magazine front cover, and he told me I wasn’t popular.”
According to Rico, his pay raise request ultimately led to him being released as McMahon seemingly wasn’t a fan of him from the start.
“Vince didn’t like me because of my age in the beginning, he was forced to put me there,” Rico said. “And if anybody out there looks at my background, I’m an Action Man. I’m a straight to law enforcement. I’ve been to two police academies, graduated number one in both of them, I’ve got life-saving awards. I was voted one of the officers of the year by Crime Stoppers for catching a person who was escaping her parole, who led me to a person who was wanted for murder, and I caught a homicide suspect and shipped them back to LA. So I’m that type of guy. EMT, paramedic, people running this way, I’m running to trouble. I want to help people. So here Vince gives me this style in some feminine character, they may be hoping I fail. Well, I turned it around.”
Rico remained under WWE contract until February 2005, after which he became a free agent. Under the WWE banner, he enjoyed two reigns as WWE Tag Team Champion. On WWE SmackDown, fans also knew him as the persona; stylist to Billy Gunn and Chuck Palumbo.
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