In a controversial move, WWE is set to assume ownership of Twitch and Cameo accounts belonging to members of its roster soon.
Many WWE stars, such as Paige, Zelina Vega, Dakota Kai, and more have successful video game streaming accounts on Twitch and have been vocal about WWE’s new policy regarding 3rd party deals.
Paige teased on social media that she’s learned a lot about “unionism” recently on Monday. Fellow WWE Superstar Zelina Vega publicly acknowledged the tweet.
WWE’s Overreach
While no one on the WWE roster has come right out and spoken against the policy, many have issued comments on why they started their Twitch channels.
“Twitch is MY place what I built with my wonderful fans. A place where people can go and feel some positivity and little bit of normalcy. Fun. Interactive. Non judgemental. Charitable place. I’m proud of what I built with my fan base,” Paige Tweeted.
Andrew Yang has been quite vocal about his opposition to WWE’s policy of classifying talent as independent contractors. He has been especially outspoken on the matter lately due to the new policy on 3rd party agreements.
“A lot of it is that wrestlers are afraid to speak out, and I’ve had wrestlers past and present reach out to me and say that Vince has been getting away with exploitation of wrestlers calling them independent contractors while controlling their activities for years and years,” Yang said in an interview with Wrestling Inc. “A lot of it is just that they are a quasi-monopoly, and wrestlers fear that if they do try and unionize or organize in any way that Vince doesn’t like, that it will never work again.”