The popularity of WWE cannot be denied. It boasts over a billion fans on social media. It has two highly rate TV shows, a streaming service, reality TV shows, video games, and even a movie studio. In 2018, WWE earned a whopping sum of $930 million in revenue. In fact, Wrestle Mania is one of the most valuable sports brands in the world.
However, there is a startling fact that we all need to be concerned with and that is the death ratio of WWE stars. There are many cases like that of Eddie Guerrero who died at the young age of 38, the unfortunate deaths of Chyna and Macho Man, the demise of King Kong Bundy at the age of 61.
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| Daniel Bryan poses after winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. |
To get a grasp around what actually is going on with the these WWE superstars; it is pertinent to talk about the CEO, i.e., Vincent Kennedy McMahon. Before McMahon took over WWE, different wrestling companies used to broadcast their own matches but soon WWE was able to create a monopoly over the entire industry. Vince McMahon is also heavily involved in the production of these matches from the script, the storyline to even playing a fictionalized version of himself in the episodes. Despite, being a billionaire himself, the way he treats his employees, i.e., the WWE superstars is deplorable. The athletes are treated like circus clowns. They are forced to play a great number of matches. They are not even allowed to recover from their injuries. It is either play the match or get fired.
Another shocking thing about the employment contract of WWE stars is that they are not even full-time employees but rather independent contractors. This does not make any sense because if they are independent workers so they should be able to work for other companies. But that is not the case. These WWE stars are independent contractors meaning they are exempt from the benefits that full-time employees have like paid leave, pension, health insurance, etc. WWE is not even liable for the injury or death of their players. Despite all this criticism Vincent McMahon still doesn't care and appears to be untouchable.
However, there is one group that McMahon occasionally listens and that is the fans. The wrestling fans clearly know what they like and what they don't like. They are pretty vocal in expressing their opinions. It was only due to the fans that female wrestlers were able to show themselves as actual fighters instead of just object pieces for men to ogle at. The fans even helped raise funds for Jake the Snake to help cover his medical expenses. This just shows how devoted the fans are and through their influence, hopefully, the WWE stars would be able to see a better future.
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