Wrestler’s Union?

By Scott Keith on December 2, 2012

Hi Scott,

Hope all is well. I'm sure you've got this question before but do you think we'll ever see a wrestler's union? I feel sick reading stories about guys like Marty Jannetty and his bad ankles and Kamala and his amputations/diabetes. Surely they could get SOME help if there was a union or some kind of medical help after their careers are done.
I know that for a union to happen, a guy who is indispensable to the company, like John Cena, would have to lead the charge. But I don't see that company man/doofus would ever do such a thing. I remember reading that Jesse Ventura and the Killer Bees (or one of them) were working towards it in the 80s but Hogan put the kibosh on things. At least that's what Jesse says.
I think there should be inclusion for wrestlers into the screen actor's guild. They work on television in "entertainment" so why not? Don't Hollywood stuntmen have a union? If those dudes do, surely wrestlers should as well. Of course, Vince still considers wrestlers like circus performers even though the rest of his corporation has made it to the 21st century.
What do you think?

Never gonna happen. WWE won't even admit that their contracted wrestlers are EMPLOYEES, let alone recognize a union. I would imagine that guys like Cena and Orton are members of the SAG already because of speaking roles in actual movies, but I can't see any legitimate entertainment boards like AMPAS or even the Emmys bothering with wrestling as far as enacting change from that direction, either, since it would require Vince to subject himself to regulation.

Basically, until someone is able to break the legal seal and get a court to rule that WWE's circus performers are employees, nothing will happen from any front.

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