sek69

Also HARPER!

It happens tomorrow.

Sasha must have been binge watching Memphis tapes during her time off, this is quite the brawl.

I'm thinking Roode-Dolph wins so they can be sacrificial lambs to the Viking Raiders on Raw.

I was wondering why they bothered making a doc. It's not like they would actually say that the company made promises to her and then pulled the rug out.

Wasn't there something about being on drink cups at 7-11 too? There was a promotion going on when he was unarguably one of the top stars in the company and he was left off.

Yes, when the original Mistico left, CMLL made a new one with the first Dragon Lee. The Dragon Lee we know today is the brother of the original (and Rush). When the original Mistico came back to CMLL they combined the Sin Cara name with Mistico and created Caristico. It wasn't clear why AAA suddenly gave Angelikal the Mysteziz Jr gimmick out of nowhere, and it probably wasn't to do this angle, but at least it kind of makes sense now.

....and that the promoter gets a management fee, so they do get a cut of anything their "contractors" do.

Yeah lets not start with personal attacks. It's not going to do your argument any favors.

I believe that the talent needs to clear any commercials they have through the company, I would imagine they get a cut.

New Japan has wanted nothing to do with Impact since Okada went their on excursion and they made him do a Green Hornet gimmick, among other things. Ever since, Impact has been the ex boyfriend trying to woo back the girl that couldn't make it more obvious they want nothing to do with them. To be far to Impact, no one who was in charge back then is still around and it's not like New Japan doesn't know anything about Don Callis since he worked with them. It's just a Japanese business culture thing that once you piss someone off they're dead to you forever. Impact has two routes to take here: 1. Leave everything the way it is: don't mess with the announce crews, keep producing the shows the same way, and hope New Japan warms up to the idea of working with them by the time the contract ends after next year. This seems unlikely considering the scorched earth approach Anthem is taking with everything else. 2. Get completely hands on: replace the announcers with Impact guys, turn the NJPW on AXS show into Impact Japan, and watch as New Japan looks for any way they can to nuke their contract into space.

also lol I don't know why it bolded the whole post when I just wanted to bold the first line.

WWE is already taking risks by throwing money at people to make sure they don't go to AEW. No one is forcing them to do that other than Vince being a controlling weirdo. They put Dio Maddin on commentary because they can't think of anything for a 6'7 former All-Conference offensive lineman to do. Asking a company that's worth billions and already employs hundreds of office staff to treat the folks beating up their bodies to earn them those billions the same as the guy shuffling papers in the office is not forcing them to take a risk. It's asking them to treat employees like employees. Except that's not really the case. Maybe most people would opt for the higher pay for their first job, but once you have responsibilities and a family you would absolutely take benefits and security. Especially if you or a loved one has medical needs that require health coverage.

Serious question: if what you state comes to pass and people get unemployed because companies refuse to treat their workers like humans, isn't that a bad look for the corporations? Do you not see that kind of mindset from employers is the exact reason bills like this get created in the first place? If free market capitalism was the Utopia its cheerleaders desperately want it to be, governments wouldn't have to step in to be all "hey please stop abusing your employees kthanx".

Which means corporations are freaking out to make sure this doesn't spread beyond California since it's apparently every CEO's fear that their workers have even an ounce of security. Easier to control the masses if they're in constant fear of losing their jobs (hi Vince!).

I mean, he kind of did. The moment news breaks that a major US state passed a law stating how employees can be classified, Dave's going to get lit up with questions about how this will affect WWE.

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.