WWE stirred up some controversy among fans and wrestlers late last week when Vince McMahon sent out a letter to wrestlers stating that they needed to terminate their relationships with third-party companies in the next 30 days, threatening fines and firings if wrestlers didn’t comply. This was quite concerning as all of the wrestlers are independent contractors and many of them have successful online accounts with sites like Twitch, Cameo and YouTube. Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer released a new report on Monday, indicating that the rule might not be as bad as originally believed.
According to Meltzer a talent meeting was held before Raw, where wrestlers were told that they could keep their accounts with YouTube and Twitch without consequences — but only as long as they kept their real names and told the company of their accounts. As for Cameo, the rules are apparently still unclear.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“Nothing was made clear of exactly what won’t be allowed although the belief was that Cameo wouldn’t be allowed but we were told that was still super vague,” the report stated.
“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,” WWE’s statement on the policy over the weekend read. “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.”
Popular Twitch streamers such as Paige and Xavier Woods have already commented publicly on the rules, indicating they’ll continue to stream as usual (though this was before Monday’s reported meeting).
What do you think of WWE’s policy now? Let us know in the comments below!
