The best things in life may be free, but when you’ve got a family to feed MONEY TALKS — and that’s precisely why recent NXT wrestler James Storm re-signed with TNA before his surprise return.

As we previously reported, Storm was never locked down to a long term deal during his two appearances on WWE programming — and James’ former employer desperately wanted him back.

Sources close to the situation tell us after months of negotiations, WWE was only willing to offer him a deal that would bring Storm less than $100K a year. TNA, on the other hand, was offering 2 1/2 times more than that. Plus, he’d get a portion of merchandise sales for the 2-year contract.

Even better, we’re told his new deal would be guaranteed money — he’d still get paid in full even if TNA suddenly went out of business — and the door was left open by WWE officials for a future return.

Think he made the right decision? Let us know in the comments.