The WWE is continuing its social media crusade and will start to give its wrestlers fines and suspension. This is obviously a continuation on the WWE forbidding wrestlers from interacting with third party brands and charities.
Grab For Total Control Continues
Vince McMahon likes to have a stronghold on his staff. Even if wrestlers are considered independent contractors, he does not want them engaging with other brands.
To drive his point home, Vince has been coming down on third-party interaction. In his latest bid, the WWE is now threatening third-party social media engagement with fines and possible suspension.
Moving forward, “violations” of the social media policy will lead to punishment by the WWE. According to Wrestling Inc, this could include warnings, fines and suspension.
In short, the company theoretically owns talent’s social media accounts. In fact, a special clause in wrestler’s contracts will make sure of that in the future.
The WWE has been criticized quite heavily for its ban on social media interactions with external brands. The main reason for the criticism is the fact that WWE wrestlers are in fact independent contractors.
While WWE wrestlers are paid for their services, their jobs are not as safe as some others. You could almost see WWE wrestlers as freelancers.
Nevertheless, the WWE thinks it has the right to stop wrestlers from cooperating with other brands and charities. Of course, this does not apply to those who go through the WWE and for which the WWE gets paid.
In conclusion, once you work for the WWE, your brand and even your person is owned by the company. But what does this truly mean for the wrestlers signed to the promotion?
What Does This Mean For WWE Wrestlers?
Naturally, WWE wrestlers still stay on as independent contractors. However, it does not mean they have the same rights as other contractors who work independently.
One of the primary concerns is that many wrestlers are missing out on additional income. And you do have to wonder why because the WWE does not offer them job safety.
There is one WWE wrestler who already lost her job due to the social media issues. Unfortunately, Zelina Vega saw her WWE dreams dashed over external accounts such as Twitch and Only Fans.
A study by LoveUX has also brought some figures forward to put things into perspective. After all, it would be difficult to estimate just how much stars are missing out on.
To give you a better idea, Lana made a whopping $625,922 on sponsored posts in 2020. This only involved a total of 59 posts, so social media has been quite lucrative for her.
Mandy Rose also did great deals on social media. The wrestler made just under half a million dollars from a total of 71 sponsored posts.
In short, wrestlers are missing out on a substantial chunk of external income. And all that for a job that is not that safe to begin with!
The new policy will probably make independent wrestlers think twice before signing up. Then again, it makes competition a lot more interesting.
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