WWE COVID-19 RELEASE MEGATHREAD

[Tarheel Moneghetti 138]

2 hours ago, ComingToAmerica said:

I could be wrong, but I'm not sure the 'independent contractors' can be furloughed per se.

Well, no, but Metlzer (and others) have said the plan is to bring back at least some of the released personnel.

Then again, Rusev and Lana have wanted out for awhile and Vince was paying them to sit home until he decided to humiliate them with the Rusev-Lana-Lashley stuff.

And independent contractors are going to be eligible for unemployment if they were let go due to Covid-19.  Independent contractors and gig workers normally aren't eligible to collect unemployment, but they are temporarily changing the eligibility requirements.  Last I heard,  independent contractors weren't eligible yet, but will be when states get new eligibility guidelines from the federal government (so sometime in 2026).

[joseph2112 1,416]

Here's the thing. Weather you are furloughed or released or whatever, if a company isn't paying you, you can do whatever the fuck you want. The same thing applies to a no compete clause. The WWE pays somebody 90 days to sit at home. If they want to go work somewhere else, they can. They just stop getting whatever that money is. You can't keep someone under contract and not pay them. 

[ka-to 172]

So all of the recent big money multi year contracts given out are still actually we can fire you after 90 days whenever we want contracts?

[AxB 8,846]

It's almost as if the Wrestlers unionising and having a collective bargaining agreement with the company would be a good idea for them, isn't it?

[Peck 4,681]

In actual release news:

- Meltzer has confirmed that Rocky (Yifeng), Marcos Gomes, Edgar Lopez, Faisal Kurdi, Hussain Aldagal, and Mohamed Abdelfattah (Mohamed Fahim) have been released. Kurdi was released two months ago, but his name just came out this past week.

[ChesterCopperpot 4,186]

 

[Jiji 9,423]

Wait, those are KO boots... That doesn't mean Hero is retiring, right?

[odessasteps 12,731]

I’d think it meant no more “KO,” not no more Hero. 

[Tarheel Moneghetti 138]

1 hour ago, joseph2112 said:

Here's the thing. Weather you are furloughed or released or whatever, if a company isn't paying you, you can do whatever the fuck you want. The same thing applies to a no compete clause. The WWE pays somebody 90 days to sit at home. If they want to go work somewhere else, they can. They just stop getting whatever that money is. You can't keep someone under contract and not pay them. 

I'm guessing Vince isn't too worried about talent taking other bookings in the next few months.  The chances of that happening seem slim, at best.

[Craig H 12,083]

20 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

Wait, those are KO boots... That doesn't mean Hero is retiring, right?

I honestly thought Ohno would have had a job for life with WWE as one of the head trainers at NXT. He'll be 41 this year, I figured it would be a good place for him to move on to by heading things up with Bloom, Brookside, and Smiley, he would presumably receive benefits, so it sucks to see him gone.

[SorceressKnight 1,376]

4 hours ago, sabremike said:

OK I didn't realize she had given birth. And they were given those contracts specifically to prevent them from going to AEW. And if she had told them she was pregnant and they pulled the offer they'd be sued and even that horrible excuse for a human being Jerry McDivitt wouldn't be able to get them off.

Even then, the problem with Mike and Maria was complex. On paper, Maria being fired shortly after giving birth is a problem.

On the other, ignoring most parts, it does boil down to: they asked for their release multiple times in the last year or so. It was clear they were not happy there. They resigned last year and made it clear afterwards they regretted resigning more than WWE could regret them resigning. Even if Mike Kanellis had said in an interview he didn't want the release now during the pandemic, it was clear when this all blows over he'd just want the release again afterwards. 

Some of it was scummy there, but there's enough of a track record there to say "no sympy."

[RIPPA 31,467]

For the record - Ohno changed his Twitter name to "WWE Alumni" so I think the folks saying it might just be that "Kassius Ohno" is retiring could be the correct ones.

[joseph2112 1,416]

12 hours ago, Tarheel Moneghetti said:

I'm guessing Vince isn't too worried about talent taking other bookings in the next few months.  The chances of that happening seem slim, at best.

For the purposes of the conversation that was happening, what I'm saying is the WWE no longer holds any power over any of these people. He can't "make" them come back. 

[BurningBeard 4,297]

12 hours ago, SorceressKnight said:

Some of it was scummy there, but there's enough of a track record there to say "no sympy."

Completely agree. I don’t know how maternity pay works in the US or with ‘independent contractors’ so that’s my only issue with her release. As for Mike he can piss off, he got what he wanted 

”I want my release. I want my release. Of course I’ll re-sign. I want my release. I mean I don’t want my release right nowww!”

Edited April 20 by BurningBeard

[RIPPA 31,467]

7 minutes ago, BurningBeard said:

Completely agree. I don’t know how maternity pay works in the US or with ‘independent contractors’ so that’s my only issue with her release. 

In the US there is the FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) where if you qualify, you can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave and you are protected from losing your job. (Though most people use their leave during this time since they can't afford to not have the check coming in)

HOWEVER, independent contractors are not eligible for FMLA

Many companies have added paid maternity leave to their benefits. Like the school district my wife works for now offers paid maternity leave because they discovered the average length of time folks were taking off was only 6 to 8 weeks so they easily had the budget to cover it.

So Maria would be using whatever the WWE policy was. Maria had their 2nd child on Feb 3. So she was released over 2 months later. So It is possible she was no longer on "maternity leave" and was just in the standard "not using you" phase.

[Serious Darius Bagfelt 382]

22 hours ago, AxB said:

It's almost as if the Wrestlers unionising and having a collective bargaining agreement with the company would be a good idea for them, isn't it?

Given the level of meatheadedness in wrestling I am sure if they unionized they would be less effective than the NFLPA

[AxB 8,846]

Chris Hero is officially back.

[Tarheel Moneghetti 138]

Georgia is supposedly going to reopen a decent chunk of their business sector at the end of the week.  No idea what the restrictions are, but I'm guessing/assuming crowd restrictions are relaxed somewhat.  So.... AEW may be doing live shows sooner than later.

I expect Excalibur and the West Coast crew are already making plans to tunnel their way out of California.

I'll be surprised if Vince doesn't find a way to at least put a small crowd in the PC for live shows.  If he runs more than a couple taped shows in the next three months, I'll eat my proverbial hat.

[Ryan 5,591]

With Georgia still increasing and all that, this is supremely fucking stupid.

[LoneWolf&Subs 6,223]

21 minutes ago, Ryan said:

With Georgia still increasing and all that, this is supremely fucking stupid.

They’ll learn eventually. Trump and his people want to politicize this to pump up his election campaign, then so be it. 

[Pete 15,074]

11 hours ago, Tarheel Moneghetti said:

Georgia is supposedly going to reopen a decent chunk of their business sector at the end of the week.  No idea what the restrictions are, but I'm guessing/assuming crowd restrictions are relaxed somewhat.  So.... AEW may be doing live shows sooner than later.

I'd be shocked if anyone with half a brain immediately released the hounds and went with full-on shows there. Folks need to be patient.

[Technico Support 8,296]

12 hours ago, AxB said:

Chris Hero is officially back.

As much as I like AEW, I want Hero on PWG's first show back.

[PetrolCB 8,646]

24 minutes ago, Pete said:

I'd be shocked if anyone with half a brain immediately released the hounds and went with full-on shows there.

[Casey 6,430]

They’re opening movie theaters when there hasn’t been any new movies released to theaters in like, what, 2 months or something? Georgia and the rest of the Southern states aren’t exactly hiding that they want to escalate things to “normal” ASAP.

[hammerva 4,354]

Yes because when I am worried about people's health the first places I want opening is bowling alleys and the rub and tugs.   You can put all the hip hop music and the 80 inch TV in that alley, most of those bowling balls haven't been cleaned since the Obama administration

Oh and this is going to be interesting