World of Sport (WoS) recently held television tapings at Norwich’s EPIC Studios for their new ‘reboot’ of the iconic brand. Several of the UK’s top independent stars were brought in for the shows which are likely to be broadcast on prime time in the United Kingdom in July.
As the talent were performing for a broadcast company (ITV) they were signed to a ‘collective bargaining agreement’ which essentially treats them as television actors, the com. The Wrestling Observer claimed that the performers on hand “adhered to the rules of the Equity UK/ITV agreement, and used the terms used primarily for those on soap operas on ITV. The Equity union negotiated the minimum rate through collective bargaining. The talent was able and was encouraged to negotiate above the minimum.”
The following stars have contracted by ITV to feature on the new 10-part show: Will Ospreay, Davey boy Jr, Grado, Moose, Primate, Joe Hendry, Martin Kirby, Iestyn Rees, Viper, Kay Lee Ray, Bea Priestley, Sha Samuels, Doug Williams, Rampage Brown, Lionheart, Nathan Cruz, Kip Sabian, Robbie X, Adam Maxted, Gabriel Kidd, CJ Banks and Liam Slater.
The idea of wrestling performers being ‘unionised’ has been a hot topic across the industry for many years. It is interesting to see how this (seemingly) small turn of events could affect other promotions across the country and potentially the World.