WWE has come under fire in recent weeks regarding the company’s classification of talent as independent contractors.
Earlier this month, WWE held a talent meeting to address the issue of wrestlers generating revenue for themselves independently. WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon also sent out a memo instructing wrestlers to cease money making ventures with third-parties by October 2nd.
WWE’s communication with talent was said to be vague and misleading. There were conflicting reports about whether or not wrestlers could still use services like Cameo, Twitch and YouTube using their WWE-owned names or their ‘real’ names.
WWE received a lot of pushback within the industry, amongst fans and even from that of former US Presidential candidate Andrew Yang. They addressed the controversy in a statement released over the past week. WWE comparing their need to protect intellectual property similar to Disney and Warner Bros:
“It is the control and exploitation of these characters that allows WWE to drive revenue, which in turn enables the company to compensate performers at the highest levels in the sports entertainment industry.”
A lot of the backlash about the “third party restriction” has focused around wrestlers making money on services like Twitch, but that is not the main reason behind WWE’s crackdown. Several talents have simply stopped using their ring names for these accounts (such as Paige), switched to using their real names, and can continue without skipping a beat
SEScoops has learned that several high-profile wrestlers, including Mandy Rose, have been doing high-dollar VIP meet-and-greets online and making a small fortune. One source stated, “It’s a pretty cut and dried violation of any WWE contract for the past 20-30 years.”
