Is the WWE correct on forcing fans to change their clothes?

[chibet]

not surprised, they tried to take away my #HEEL sign several years ago, why ill never know, maybe because they were trying to push a wwe # or because they planned to turn ziggler face. they've gotten absolutely ridiculous, if they continue this, i feel bad for the people responsible for resolving these situations at WM weekend events, they'll be INSANELY busy. ....... it was nice seeing the YOUNG BUCKS, BEST TAG TEAM IN THE WORLD sign make it to air though.... ::: throws up "kliq" hand gesture:::

the wwe copywrites a certain way of holding your fingers.... nothing would surprise me. yet, its ok to steal the young bucks moves DIRECTLY and put them in their video game DLC pack.... even calling "more bang for your buck" ...."more bang" getting so sick of the E's b.s. Wrestling getting bigger, more promotions etc, means the business as a whole thrives.

 

[enviousdominous]

I really don't think that the WWE is legally liable for how their fans dress in terms of someone else's intellectual property. I can't go marketing my own sequel to the Nightmare on Elm street franchise without getting sent to court by the estate of Wes Craven, but I'm pretty sure I'd be able to dress as Freddy Kreuger for a Halloween edition of Raw.

Why then would the WWE choose to be dicks about what the fans wear? Maybe because they get their heads so far up their own asses at times that you end up with the 2015 Royal Rumble.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

The latest report on this states that the reason they were asked to change was because the costumes were "too distracting" for the broadcast and that the one responsible for sending security to these fans was Vince's #1 yes man, Kevin Dunn as "distracting" costumes are said to be a pet peeve of his.

One of the fans, a gentleman named Matt Sheridan, posted a letter to WWE via Reddit:

"As a life-long fan of your product, I was very excited to attend your show last night (Des Moines 3/16/2015). I had secured 10 tickets in the front row at $100 a ticket. By my math that is $1,000 that we paid the WWE to attend your event. The seats were in the front row. Being a huge fan, I made sure to invite 9 other rabid fans and we all made the decision to pay tribute to our favorite wrestlers and dress like them. Within 10 minutes of the show starting, we were told that our outfits were "too distracting" and to change clothes, or we would be moved. I assure you none of the members of our party were being in any way unruly or belligerent. You can watch the taping and see for yourself. We were merely watching the show. Now, I have heard rumblings in the past of people being booted from their seats for costumes, but I always sided with the WWE and assumed that those fans HAD to have done something else to lose their seats, and WWE wouldn't boot people for simply dressing up. Now I know that they indeed will do that, regardless of how respectful you are. This seems to contradict your "Be a Star" promotions (which ironically enough was running on the screen as we were being scolded by WWE producers) that seem to encourage fanaticism.
I guess at the end of the day, all I am looking for is an explanation as to why you would boot fans who spend the time, energy, and money on advocating your product. Seems like just the kind of people you would want in your corner.

For the record, I am still in your corner, however disappointed I may be.

Thanks for your time, Matt Sheridan

PS - Had we all been dressed as John Cena or Roman Reigns would the outcome have been different? Please advise so I can let the other 9 guys know for future shows."

I've heard that Kevin Dunn was a douche bag, so I guess this was just par for the course.

 

[laodaron]

Yeah, sorry, 10 guys dressed in costumes sitting in the front two are 10 douchebags trying to get attention from the hard camera and surrounding fans.

 

[@smarkmouth]

Yeah, sorry, 10 guys dressed in costumes sitting in the front two are 10 douchebags trying to get attention from the hard camera and surrounding fans.

I've watched most of Raw. I didn't see them dancing around, hear them yelling impressions or other disruptions. The only fault I see on the fans part is excess enthusiasm, and I see no reason to be bothered by it. They're having fun at the expense of nobody, except if reports are to be believed, Kevin Dunn.

I've done some brief research online and looked at some of my previous tickets. I cannot find any evidence of a required dress code for WWE events or how they're enforced. By required, I do mean information about enforced activity which is available to the consumer. Judging by this thread, I'd say no one else has found such a document either. What you can find is clear and deliberate language on ticket stubs fine print that your behavior can get you ejected.

The "ten douchebags" are in the right.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

How distracting were they?? You notice them once, you laugh, then your eyes drift back to the ring. I can't believe that the powers that be thought that those guys were affecting how people were viewing their show.

I would love to hear the reasoning. As someone said, there may be some legal aspect but I would think the WWE actually owns those "likenesses". And even if they don't, I can't see how they could be held liable anyway since these were FANS, not WWE employees, and the fans were not referenced. And what are the damages? Who got hurt or lost money?

This just makes the WWE look petty and ridiculous.

 

[d_henderson1810]

Maybe it is Legends contract they have with past wrestlers, and they are afraid some Legend will demand a royalty from WWE for their "image and likeness" being used by someone in the crowd.

Don't believe that WWE would win a case if someone sued. I have no faith in courts, who often award damages when the person's injuries are due to their own stupidity. The mainstream news stations are gunning for WWE at every opportunity, so Vince doesn't want to "feed the sharks".

It is amazing though, that anytime someone complains about something in WWE, a lot of people here think that they must be right, and the WWE must be wrong. Eventhough we have little info on why they were evicted, most of you just assume that it must be WWE's fault, and never the other party. In a fight with someone, most so-called WWE fans don't give the company the benefit of the doubt and instead think that the person playing the victim (such as C.M. Punk. Bret Hart, or these guys) must the ones persecuted by the big bad WWE, because all successful, wealthy companies are "evil" in the minds of many of you.

Dave Meltzer is a hater of wrestling, just riding on its coattails to grease his palms, by pretending to criticise it for reasons other than the true one, that he hates the sport, otherwise he would commend it once in a blue moon. He and Mark Madden need to F off.

 

[Navi]

I've watched most of Raw. I didn't see them dancing around, hear them yelling impressions or other disruptions. The only fault I see on the fans part is excess enthusiasm, and I see no reason to be bothered by it. They're having fun at the expense of nobody, except if reports are to be believed, Kevin Dunn.

I've done some brief research online and looked at some of my previous tickets. I cannot find any evidence of a required dress code for WWE events or how they're enforced. By required, I do mean information about enforced activity which is available to the consumer. Judging by this thread, I'd say no one else has found such a document either. What you can find is clear and deliberate language on ticket stubs fine print that your behavior can get you ejected.

The "ten douchebags" are in the right.

That's weird because I looked online as well, and I have some ticket stubs that I looked at. The Air Canada Centre and Ricoh Coliseum here in Toronto have no such dress codes in place for WWE events. The most recent ticket stub that I have for the last live show, 2 weeks ago, also says nothing about a dress code.

It does say that behaviour and taking videos of the WWE Superstars is not allowed. Only photographs. You can be ejected for those two reasons not for dressing like Hulk Hogan.

 

[SoulTrain4]

If there were a dress code wouldn't that be visible? I'm sure they wouldn't run the risk of having fans come out the the show in costumes, be refused to be seated or asked to leave without some prior warning.

From what I've seen it isn't even a WWE policy of forcing fans to change, it was one person (Dunn).

I would have hated for it to be me. I ride public transit and there's no way I would go all the way back home to change, WWE would have had to pony up some free merch for me to change into or be prepared to give me a refund.

 

[dave-cee]

i just actually re-watched the first half hour of raw. during the Rollins promo you can see them directly behind him but they are stood up playing off on what he said, not trying to take over the shot or be a distraction. Then during the diva's match they was sat down, sat back enjoying the match, i would think and not playing up to the camera with "their" gimmicks or costumes. then comes out miz and you see 6-7 guys all wearing a cena shirt with an obvious costume underneath.

if anything the blue/orange/pink/purple or what ever color is next shirt was more off putting when watching it now.

baffles me endless this.