WWE CEO and Chairman Vince McMahon recently laid down some pretty restrictive rules for the Superstars. Following some major heat during the COVID-19 scare, McMahon has instructed all his Superstars to refrain from ‘misusing’ social media platforms such as Twitch and Tik Tok.
WWE issued an official statement to the Superstars to clarify this decision:
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“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.”
Vince McMahon felt that WWE Superstars were using their ring names in a fashion that was detrimental to WWE.
Vince McMahon did not appreciate the negative publicity
In a statement, McMahon revealed the following news to his Superstars, effective immediately.
“Some of you are engaged with outside third parties using your name and likeness in ways that are detrimental to our company. 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.”
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The cause of this entire thing probably stemmed from the immense pressure put on WWE a few months ago. The company was in danger of having a COVID-19 outbreak among its Superstars.
Former Backstage interview Renee Young revealed on Twitter that she had tested positive. This put WWE under a lot of fire, which the staff did not appreciate. Young confirmed the same in a recent interview.
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The last straw was when AJ Styles also revealed that he had COVID-19 a few days back. Even though he had already recovered, Vince McMahon didn’t like the negative publicity WWE was getting from it.
Vince McMahon has a point, but then again he doesn’t as well. His actions cannot be judged as they both have different perspectives when you’re looking at it.