How was Vince McMahon able to secure “essential” status for WWE to continue running TV in Florida?
Vince McMahon has deep political ties all over this country and he has a good relationship with Governor Ron DeSantis, who declared WWE essential. Vince was going to do everything he could to ensure his product would be able to continue in some form, even if it meant sacrificing gate revenue. All promotions have had to find ways to do this just to stay afloat during this time. There was legitimate concern from Vince that FOX and NBCUniversal would opt out of their TV deals if the shows did not air live but that did not turn out to be the case. The TV partners are happy with WWE and they continue to produce weekly content. The cuts and adjustments WWE has made have allowed them to continue to remain profitable, something essential for any business but especially one that is traded publicly.
Do WWE Superstars who are released from their contracts get paid for the duration of the 90-day non-compete clauses attached to their WWE contracts?
Yes, when a WWE Superstar is released from their contract they are paid for three months while they are not allowed to work elsewhere. This is agreed upon when they sign their contract. That way, they collect their downside guarantee (money they are guaranteed no matter what), while they are not allowed to accepting bookings for other promotions. The amount depends on how high up the worker is on the card. As we reported here on WrestlingNews.com Insider, MVP is making a downside of $400,000/year on his new deal. That is atypical and reserved for established stars and bigger draws. Some guys make much less, which is paid bi-weekly.
Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk pitched the XFL doing a season this fall if there is no college football this season. What are your thoughts? Is Vince McMahon upset over The Rock purchasing the company out of bankruptcy?
The current plan for the XFL resuming play is to wait until the spring of 2022. These are very poor economic conditions to try and compete with the NFL. The NFL itself is going to have a hard time being able to play this upcoming season. It is a neat idea and would give the XFL the chance to get noticed, especially if there is no college football, but I think it’s a long shot at best. As for Vince being upset with The Rock, they are very close. As we noted here on WrestlingNews.com Insider, it was actually Vince’s idea for The Rock to get a group together to purchase the league out of bankruptcy. I truly believe Vince wants it to succeed but as I have discussed, it is going to be an uphill climb.
With WWE not acquiring EVOLVE talent, what was the point in acquiring the promotion?
WWE wanted the tape library. This is classic Vince McMahon and is how he has built his empire. How WWE uses the tape library remains to be seen but the chances are good you see content on the WWE Network.
Is there heat on Chris Jericho over playing the shows with Fozzy in the middle of the pandemic?
There are plenty of people upset about Chris Jericho playing indoor venues in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was all over social media this weekend and as we reported exclusively here on WrestlingNews.com Insider, an executive from TNT saw the coverage and contacted AEW about it. We will see if anything becomes of it but Jericho is very high up in the AEW pecking order and likely will not face any repercussions.
The next installment of Ask WNC is scheduled to run on Friday, August 14, 2020.
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