News broke earlier this week that Vince McMahon issued a letter to WWE talent demanding that their involvement in third party companies outside of WWE (Twitch, Cameo, etc.) needed to be stopped within the next 30 days. The decision was widely panned by fans and wrestlers outside of the company, even after WWE released a statement explaining the decision — “Much like Disney and Warner Bros., WWE creates, promotes and invests in its intellectual property, i.e. the stage names of performers like The Fiend Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns, Big E and Braun Strowman. 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. Notwithstanding the contractual language, it is imperative for the success of our company to protect our greatest assets and establish partnerships with third parties on a companywide basis, rather than at the individual level, which as a result will provide more value for all involved.”
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Paige, who still works with WWE despite being retired from in-ring competition since early 2018, is one of the many WWE personalities who has created a successful Twitch channel. She sent out a message to her subscribers over the weekend, indicating she wasn’t leaving Twitch.
“Hey guys, Just a quick announcement, my twitch name has been changed to my real name not my stage name! Its now SarayaOfficial! Thank you all and ill see you Sunday for the last chance to be in the biggest giveaways I’ve ever done,” her message read. “Paige/Saraya xoxo.”
Paige says her Twitch channel will not be going away. She just has to change her name/the graphics to Saraya. pic.twitter.com/KwNOrm87AP
— Ryan Satin (@ryansatin) September 5, 2020
“Some of you are engaged with outside third parties using your name and likeness in ways that are detrimental to our company,” McMahon’s letter partially read. “It is imperative that these activities be terminated within the next 30 days (by Friday October 2). Continued violations will result in fines, suspension, or termination at WWE’s discretion.”
We’ll continue to provide updates as other wrestlers announce the future of their channels in the coming weeks.
