Austin was highest paid during WWF championships..I heard an internet rumor around 1999, when the WCW started getting killed by the WWE in the ratings war that they had tired to reach out to Austin, and offered him an insane amount of money to jump ship and come to WWE. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the rumor, but it had stated that the offer would have made Austin the highest paid wrestler in WCW, eclipsing what Hogan and Goldberg made in their final years of the company, but obviously Austin stayed put in the WWE.
There were also rumors that a few months after Jesse Ventura won the Minnesota Governor race, WCW offered him a substantial amount of money to make appearances on WCW, but Ventura didn't really need the money and of course him and Hulk Hogan could not co-exist after their infamous fallout in the early 90s.
He was in pre WCW area... it called Worldwide wrestling...had mega superstars... Vader , Flair, Four horseman, Syd... etc etc...Austin with the blonde hair was basically a nobody...TV championships.. Never considered much... sorry.
I am huge WCW fan...
My Legends..
1. Goldberg
2. Sting
3. Booker T
4. Syd
(In ranking/ in order)