sek69

Yeah, Uber and Lyft were trying to get the CA legislature to carve out exemptions but the response was basically "nah dawg, you're why we're doing this in the first place". Bolded part alone makes it sound worth it based on everything we've ever heard about how WWE runs their business. Also what will probably force WWE's hand is not a situation where it's federally mandated (current makeup of Congress guarantees jack shit will get passed unless it's another handout to billionares), but if enough states pass similar laws to the point they can't just ignore one or two states it will cause a change.

Dave RT'd a lawyer the other day laying out how WWE would be affected since they do business in CA and (I believe) have offices there.

Ah yes, nothing like the "I'm taking leave of this thread you emotional cretins" tactic when your points all get blown the F up.

Not to mention WWE gets to have their cake and eat it too with the current system. They get to lock people in with contracts just to put them on a shelf so they can't make money for a competitor, while getting to treat them the same way legally as someone doing a side hustle for Uber. Perhaps having to treat people they sign as actual employees and not something to hoard wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. I mean, is signing Mike and Maria for $500K (each?) to do approximately jack shit any worse than JvK's scenario of Ted Jr on TV every week. At least him being on TV might lead to something.

Then they were poorly run if they couldn't stay in business and treat their employees like employees. Or their business model depended on predatory practices that require them to pay workers as little as possible.

It wasn't the contracts that sank WCW, that is the same old FUD put out by the Russo types and their minions. The company was making big profits paying guys those same giant contracts, it was only when they were no longer able to stop stepping on their own dicks creatively that the bottom fell out. The contracts only became a problem when they could no longer book a show that could fill the smallest of arenas. It's a really odd argument to be all "how dare you think treating employees like employees is a good thing" when that's how it works in nearly every other major company of the size WWE is. Having guaranteed contracts with benefits hasn't killed any major "real sport", and it's not damaging the entertainment industry either. I fail to see how being compensated fairly and being treated like the important revenue generating part of the company they are will suddenly lead to wrestling being dominated by guys just punching a clock. That sounds like some shit you'd hear in an anti Union propaganda video at Wal-mart.

Then of course you have Arena Mexico, which has held more wrestling events than any other venue in the world.

Yeah, as a Pittsburgh native I'm loathe to give Cleveland any credit but there was definitely at time in the 80s/90s where it seemed like nearly every major WWF show was being run there.

Also this reminds me of both the US and UK governments looking into regulating loot boxes in video games, and game companies making fools of themselves by trying to say with a straight face that the gambling mechanics they put in their games are not gambling due to semantics. They brought it on themselves, just like WWE will when the day comes where they can no longer pretend the people who's careers they control aren't employees.

AEW declaring their wrestlers are employees would be good PR and another way to distinguish themselves from the "evil empire", plus it would be a great recruiting tool that would force WWE to either change their stance to adapt or risk ceding ground to the competition. Lest we think Vince would never do such a thing, remember they started offering guaranteed deals after WCW started luring away their top stars by doing it. Another reason why it's good to have competition in wrestling, it pushes WWE to do things they will never do without it.

One thing that might be key here is there were a few other states looking to do bills like this and were basically looking for someone else to do it first to get any potential heat over it. Since CA took the plunge it will be easier for other states to follow suit now, and considering the Ubers and Lyfts of the world pissed off a lot of people with their practices, this may be something WWE and AEW have to address rather than ignore. It won't kill all wrestling in the state though, since indy companies are the ones who's talent actually are independent contractors. It would only affect companies who restrict their wrestlers from working for other companies.

Corbin's like the current WWE developmental system in a nutshell: he was brought up before he was ready just because he was a big guy, was put in a position to fail where he was slotted at a level above his ability. He's closed the gap between his ability and his level on the card, but the company poisoned the well on him with a lot of people. He's going to have to work twice as hard just to not be seen as the annoying authority figure dressed as a waiter.

Re: Bruno, I doubt he personally was involved with the mob, but there's no doubt mob guys would be fans of his. Kind of like the Yakuza guys who were big New Japan fans back in the day (and probably still are but they were more visible back then). The (W)WWF was big on the ethnic hero babyfaces, and Bruno was the Italian hero. I wouldn't be surprised if someone came to Bruno to offer to "take care" of Larry for him. Edited to add: wasn't it heavily rumored if not outright stated that Victor Quinones was not just Gorilla's godson but his actual son? I seem to recall it being confirmed or at least no longer denied after Gorilla died then it came up again when Victor died.

As opposed to the impact it would make to give up the ghost on the independent contractor BS? Absolutely.

So I looked into this further and I did find it, airing at 10am on Monday on the Spanish PPV channel. Great job all around. Poorly planned, poorly promoted, poorly scheduled. Worst of all, AAA will most likely react to the low numbers this show gets by deciding the US just isn't interested in having their shows. With any luck the LA show will do good just because it's a more of a traditional market for them.

The bar is so low now that the moment someone doesn't actively suck out loud anymore there's a weird undercurrent of "I knew he was great all along".

At worst, California won't see any WWE shows for a while like how Oregon was left off the loop back in the day when they required drug testing. Don't get me wrong, laws like this are a start, but until something happens on a federal level it will be easier for companies to just do business elsewhere.

Yeah here in Pittsburgh it airs (multiple times) Saturday and Sunday afternoons. In a way it kind of reminded me when someone would bleed on 80s WWF TV and they'd have the big red X up on the screen. Made it seem more gruesome than it actually was.

Dave stated that was his first thought when he heard they weren't doing Takeovers on PPV weekends anymore. They haven't officially stated it, but since NXT has been turned into the counter to AEW I would be shocked if they didn't start running them on AEW PPV weekends instead.

WWE probably doesn't even realize how it makes them look like Baghdad Bob to try to claim people will starve to death when they leave, when Chris Jericho is the AEW champion and Jon Moxley will probably be in one of the headline matches on their next PPV. Also the fact that Cody is one of the ones who created the damn thing. But yeah, there's no life for anyone outside of WWE.

It's been the point of every wrestler vs management angle they've done for the last 20 years, and it's going to look even more ridiculous when there's another national wrestling promotion on TV every week.

So I just checked and it looks like Comcast isn't even carrying this show on PPV. It's like AAA did a reverse Crockett with this show and didn't realize having it on the same day as a WWE PPV meant no one would be carrying it.

Considering one of the jobbers Heavy Machinery beat was named Alex Keaton, apparently 3rd graders who watch reruns of 80s sitcoms.

The Fink was backstage at Raw last night, nice to see he's still able to see friends after all his health issues.

....and then Anthem had to go Anthem it all up by firing everyone at AXS who built it up as a major outlet for combat sports.