Ryback's Comments & Future: Keep It All Here

[THTRobtaylor]

He's used every word BUT Union... and for no other reason, that is why he will "be gone". He's practically begged SAG or someone else to come and investigate (they will eventually, and WWE will be having serious issues justifying why their competing shows on a Monday and Thursday's actors must register and WWE guys not)

Basically Ryback is arguing for what Jesse Ventura did all those years back... some form of governance over talent in wrestling and WWE in particular.

To Vince, this is the anethma... he cannot EVER entertain this even for a second... his 35 year business model has been around total control. The moment any kind of formalisation comes in, then WWE is in immediate danger. Look at how shows like Big Bang Theory, Friends and The Simpsons have all falled foul of strikes and contractual wrangles that see their stars earning millions per episode. Jim Parsons is on around 30 million a year alone... more than Cena or Brock by a long way... add what Galecki, Cuoco etc get and quickly WWE's profits would be gone just on Cena, Brock and Undertaker and what happens when Reigns, Rollins and co decide "we want the same or we don't perform?"

WWE only survived cos even at its peak, RAW paid Cena's or Austin a minuscule amount of what the top TV stars of the day earn... If a major "casting list" for a show is 7 people, then WWE has nearly 10 times that ready to go at a moments notice... if they all got the same, the business falters very quickly.

Is it right? Morally not - but as long as wrestling is allowed to exist "in a bubble" the system Ryback is railing against will exist. SAG and all the other unions should rightfully be involved or a body set up - but it never can be on Vince's watch... imagine if he did, what kind of suits would guys like Ventura, Austin et al all be filing.. "You could do it now, but not for us? Retrospective damages please..."

Ryan Reeves doesn't set foot in a WWE ring again - he's probably done enough to get the fabled "blackball" - not right morally, but you don't talk union in the WWE - even by the back door.

 

[stingray11214]

He's used every word BUT Union... and for no other reason, that is why he will "be gone". He's practically begged SAG or someone else to come and investigate (they will eventually, and WWE will be having serious issues justifying why their competing shows on a Monday and Thursday's actors must register and WWE guys not)

Basically Ryback is arguing for what Jesse Ventura did all those years back... some form of governance over talent in wrestling and WWE in particular.

To Vince, this is the anethma... he cannot EVER entertain this even for a second... his 35 year business model has been around total control. The moment any kind of formalisation comes in, then WWE is in immediate danger. Look at how shows like Big Bang Theory, Friends and The Simpsons have all falled foul of strikes and contractual wrangles that see their stars earning millions per episode. Jim Parsons is on around 30 million a year alone... more than Cena or Brock by a long way... add what Galecki, Cuoco etc get and quickly WWE's profits would be gone just on Cena, Brock and Undertaker and what happens when Reigns, Rollins and co decide "we want the same or we don't perform?"

WWE only survived cos even at its peak, RAW paid Cena's or Austin a minuscule amount of what the top TV stars of the day earn... If a major "casting list" for a show is 7 people, then WWE has nearly 10 times that ready to go at a moments notice... if they all got the same, the business falters very quickly.

Is it right? Morally not - but as long as wrestling is allowed to exist "in a bubble" the system Ryback is railing against will exist. SAG and all the other unions should rightfully be involved or a body set up - but it never can be on Vince's watch... imagine if he did, what kind of suits would guys like Ventura, Austin et al all be filing.. "You could do it now, but not for us? Retrospective damages please..."

Ryan Reeves doesn't set foot in a WWE ring again - he's probably done enough to get the fabled "blackball" - not right morally, but you don't talk union in the WWE - even by the back door.

The SAG has known about WWE for years. If Melissa Gilbert, Kent McCord, Richard Masur and the late Ken Howard gave a crap, they could have owned WWE a long time ago. The SAG DOES have the responsibility to police a "closed" shop, which TV is supposed to be. Problem is how do you define Pro Wrestling? They just do not know or get it. SAG sees Pro Wrestling kinda like Survivor: "Reality" TV. Many of the competitors on those shows are also non-SAG. If SAG was to attack Pro Wrestling, they would have to go after EVERY Pro Wrestling and "Reality" product if they appear in US television. In reality, it would devastate the bottom lines of the Networks and their producers. And, it would probably cost more to go after them than it would be worth.

As for the Big Guy: This seems to have also stemmed from a copyright issue that has come to a head. Face it: Ryback is gone. You will probably see him on Paragon or GFW. TNA cannot afford him. They are going after Indy up-and-comers like Caleb Konley. He goes to Paragon, it is a huge coup for the Vegas-based company. And, he will also have International exposure under their TV contracts. He will be wanted elsewhere.

 

[Navi]

The SAG has known about WWE for years. If Melissa Gilbert, Kent McCord, Richard Masur and the late Ken Howard gave a crap, they could have owned WWE a long time ago. The SAG DOES have the responsibility to police a "closed" shop, which TV is supposed to be. Problem is how do you define Pro Wrestling? They just do not know or get it. SAG sees Pro Wrestling kinda like Survivor: "Reality" TV. Many of the competitors on those shows are also non-SAG. If SAG was to attack Pro Wrestling, they would have to go after EVERY Pro Wrestling and "Reality" product if they appear in US television. In reality, it would devastate the bottom lines of the Networks and their producers. And, it would probably cost more to go after them than it would be worth.

As for the Big Guy: This seems to have also stemmed from a copyright issue that has come to a head. Face it: Ryback is gone. You will probably see him on Paragon or GFW. TNA cannot afford him. They are going after Indy up-and-comers like Caleb Konley. He goes to Paragon, it is a huge coup for the Vegas-based company. And, he will also have International exposure under their TV contracts. He will be wanted elsewhere.

I see what you're saying but a show like Survivor or the Amazing Race is different from RAW. These are people who apply to do a one time show, and it's the cast itself who decides who stays and who goes. Yes it's all about winning, but the favourite get voted off just because their well the favourite.
Plus you can be guaranteed the host and crew are SAG members as they appear on each and every episode. RAW has the same cast each and every week, and while the outcome is predetermined, it follows the same line as every show on TV. The most lead actors or in this case the main event would get paid more. The problem would come that one day you could be holding the title and the next day drop it to an up and comer. That means the contracts would have to be interchanging all the time. No one wants that mess on their hands.

Even the NHL players are unionized and I can almost say with assurance that a Sydney Crosby would make more money than someone just called up from the farm system.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I see what you're saying but a show like Survivor or the Amazing Race is different from RAW. These are people who apply to do a one time show, and it's the cast itself who decides who stays and who goes. Yes it's all about winning, but the favourite get voted off just because their well the favourite.
Plus you can be guaranteed the host and crew are SAG members as they appear on each and every episode. RAW has the same cast each and every week, and while the outcome is predetermined, it follows the same line as every show on TV. The most lead actors or in this case the main event would get paid more. The problem would come that one day you could be holding the title and the next day drop it to an up and comer. That means the contracts would have to be interchanging all the time. No one wants that mess on their hands.

Even the NHL players are unionized and I can almost say with assurance that a Sydney Crosby would make more money than someone just called up from the farm system.

Exactly...

Sports Entertainment is a Soap Opera... SET in a wrestling company. Which means it's stars are actors with stunt qualifications/abilities - not reality stars. They are not themselves, they portray characters by the McMahon's own admissions. It's how Steph can be a corporate person, she is clear outside and off camera she is not the person portrayed. She is an actor with business connections.... So why is it different for any other actor on a show on a Monday night who exec produces their show or has a stake in the production company? It isn't at all but as you say, SAG or other unions have "let it go", something that inevitably will not continue. It will only take a few high profile fall-outs with talents like this and a lawsuit that goes against WWE to put that blood in the water. It will only take one production company whose show rivalling WWE is cancelled to sue saying anti-trust and an unfair market.

It's a very real threat and it's why Vince gets in so much with the networks he goes with... and why ideally he wants all talent, shows and control on his own network.

Best case of this was George Lucas... he had to work outside the union system as he gave up his Directors Guild accreditation. It limited his options but as he owned the property of Star Wars, he could still functionally make them with "puppet" directors like Richard Marquand. It caused lots of problems talent wise though. Think back to Return Of The Jedi... only Harrison Ford really worked in Hollywood for a LONG time afterwards. It was years before Hamil, Fisher, Dee Williams and the like really appeared in other movies.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

and it's the cast itself who decides who stays and who goes.

And we either have the introduction of kayfabe into reality TV, or you're extremely naive.

Sorry to go off topic, but this is hilarious.

The more I read about this Ryback situation, the more it does seem like he'll never be seen on WWE live TV again. A shame, but it happens.

 

[ztwhite]

From the look of things, it appears as if a couple of WWE's talent are fighting back against the system.

Adam Rose and Ryback both appear to have equally sound arguments against their treatment -- one stemming from a wellness policy violation, the other a contract stipulation.

Whether they'll ultimately 'win' their arguments remains to be seen, but it certainly looks like both will get swallowed up and future endeavored.

But... are they laying the ground work for other guys / gals to fight back against the powers that be over certain perks, stipulations, etc... ?

Would someone like Roman Reigns have the same problem if he raised similar issues or complaints? It's a rhetorical question, but one worth pondering.

Times, they are a changing, and WWE's policies and practices may be outdated in a lot of ways. Or... and this is likely the case... it's the WWE and it doesn't matter what they do or how they do it. If a talent doesn't like it, the company can find someone who does.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Damn, I thought this would be about fighting robots. I call click bait.

But seriously, there's been some machine fighting in the past couple of years. Why would anyone even open their mouths towards Vince McMahon is a mystery...you aren't gonna win man! Vince never loses so don't bother trying or he'll send you home. You've got, no chance, no chance in hell!

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Generally speaking, you're always going to have the "haves" and the "have nots" in pro wrestling just as you do with any other business. You're going to have people who're going to climb higher and earn more money and you'll have those who're envious of those who do. This is not just a WWE or pro wrestling thing, it's essentially a business thing altogether. While it may be true that WWE isn't a legit sport and that winners & losers are scripted, fans are going to pay money to watch those who're booked to be the winners; those are the ones who sell the tickets, the merchandise, the ppv buys, etc. People aren't going to spend money to watch jobbers, that's just a cold hard fact of life. Seeing as how the "winners" are responsible for drawing the most money into the company, why should the "losers" earn the same amount of pay? I'm quite sure that most of the guys who'd vehemently disagree with Ryback are those guys who've made the big money like Hogan, Savage, Warrior, Taker, Sting, Flair, Lesnar, Batista, Triple H, the Rock, John Cena, Reigns, Rollins, Ambrose, etc.

I don't know all the details behind Adam Rose's suspension, I know what his side of the story is but I've yet to hear anything about it from WWE. If Rose genuinely had a prescription for Adderall and WWE has known about it for over a year, like he claims, I don't see why they suspended him; it just seems odd he'd be punished if they had knowledge of it and he has a legal prescription. Could the tests have revealed something else in his system besides Adderall?

As for Ryback, Ryback's a much simpler case, to me, because it all just sounds like he's someone who's wanted to be one of the top guys in WWE, yet he isn't one of the top guys in WWE and he's lashing out over it. Ryback's comments are pretty standard operating procedure for disgruntled WWE wrestlers, or wrestlers in general who've worked for big companies, who haven't gotten what they feel that they "deserve" one way or another. He's said it in a much classier, more intelligent way that most, but it's essentially the same thing: I'm the good guy, management are the bad guys, I'm standing up for myself & everyone else like me, etc. He's painted himself as the virtuous hero in his little saga with WWE being the big, bad, bloodthirsty dragon that's terrorizing the kingdom.

I'm of the opinion, as I stated in the Ryback thread recently, that he wouldn't give two shits about the rest of the roster if he was one of the top guys making top level money. The sense I get, I grant that I may be entirely wrong but it's just the feeling I have based on what I've read, is that all of Ryback's complaints would disappear if he found himself getting a big push.

 

[BringThePain834]

You can see it right in front of your very eyes.

It blows my mind that in this day and age though we still adhere to this formula. Obviously things have always been this way, but does that make them right? Times have changed and our goal as humans should be to evolve and learn from our past and the past of others so we could make this world a better place. Why is it a guy who is told he is going to go out and lose and does everything he is told be paid not only less, but much less than said winner over a period of time. Every single performer for WWE sacrifices the same amount of time from home and their families and every single man or women goes out and does what they are told. Looking at this formula though losers turn into what fans like to call jobbers and their value decreases in the companies eyes and before you know it they get released. For what? For doing exactly as they are told!

Why not pay the talent equally? The winners have more MERCH as it is or are supposed to anyways so they get that extra perk, but why make the guy who is told to and agrees to lose earn less and sacrifice spots in big pay per view match ups etc. This is one of the major problems with wrestling and WWE today. Most guys take great satisfaction in helping making other talent, the bitching and the moaning we always hear about stems from the fact they know they are ultimately over time going to make less and live in fear of being released.

TLDR - Union please. Vince, we need to unionize and I'm gonna bitch and moan and cry and sit at home until you decide to start one up.

I'm sorry but his statement is ridiculous. It's all communist nonsense. I think Ryback has all the looking to be a star. I really, honestly do, but I can't accept any of this at all.

Capitalism has it's cons, but how would wrestling function without it and where would all the desire to work up the card and prove yourself a commodity go if everyone is paid the same?

I'm also tired as fuck of modern day fans thinking the WWE literally controls every element of someone's success. Bullshit. Austin was Stunning Steve, Rock was Maivia, HHH was a posh guy, Undertaker's first gimmick was so shit I can't even remember what it was. They kicked up a fuss, they made changes, they gave Vince no option but to push them, because they = $.

Sure, Zack Ryder. I get that. But the second Vince made it clear he didn't fancy the gimmick, do something else. Be something else. Or work for someone else. It's Vince's company.

And now ask yourself this. Why with wrestling fans is it always creative's fault when someone fails, yet never their achievement when someone succeeds? It would be really refreshing if one day a fan admitted their guy didn't make it because either they weren't good enough or didn't have the balls to tell Vince their being mishandled.

Vince is sat on a billion dollars, and I'm fairly sure he's more qualified to know who to push than you or me. I think that would be fair.

This post may sound like an WWE apologist rant, and if that's the case, so be it. Some of the opinions in some of these other threads are ridiculous.

Ryback has the same skill set as John Cena? Go away.

And as far as giving the union idea another go, it's already set to fail. It failed before and it's gonna fail again. In addition to that, everything I've said before is why a union in professional wrestling will fail.

The end result of a union in professional wrestling is the union completely destroying the industry.

 

[Azane]

Rybacks not winning anything, the fact he's being so vocal about it just means he's going to be canned rather than deal with it. He thinks he's something special, but he's been nothing but a joke ever since they the Nexus Debut.

Rose might get unsuspended and some compensation for the suspension, but again, speaking out against WWE is going to ultimately lead to him being buried and released, because WWE isn't going to deal with his crap.

People like Roman Reigns or Cena don't question a lot of things because of their spots (If you ever watch a Cena interview when they ask him controversial questions, he's ALWAYS 50/50 on them and avoids giving you an actual answer). Roman Reigns didn't even know what the term Kayfabe meant during an interview and said he didn't know insider terms, You know, the 3 time World Champion, so I doubt he'd question anything going on in the company, he's just there for his paycheck.

WWE's policies on Wellness are rock solid and won't be changing those soon, they may take individual looks for prescription meds, but ever since the 90's Steroid trial, Vince has been under a microscope, especially while people like Cena, Lesnar and HHH are walking around with body's that are 2-3x the size they should be, so he's not backing down on how they test for things, even if it's only in the public eye.

Also, I still will have no sympathy for anyone making 6 figure salaries for not making enough money.

 

[Azane]

Let's pay all the talent equally! so we fire the bottom 60% and have a 20 man roster and rehash the same stuff, and never let anyone break into the industry.

I don't agree with full blown union, but I think the contractor days should be put to rest, and WWE should have to actual employ wrestlers, and follow some of those guidelines.


Also, Vince may have been more qualified one day with who to push, but he has a huge issue with pushing his mistakes too far, to try and prove himself right. While John Cena eventually became profitable in Merch, how many viewers have they lost over the past Decade shoving him down people's throats? Roman Reigns? well, Ratings speak for themselves in his day and age.

Now, Union? No thanks, I don't need a bunch of people making 6-7 figure salaries whining about how unfair their job is. But Employment? Yes, make them follow normal employement laws, give the WWE talent insurance for in ring injuries, and a ton of other basic things, but we don't need Sandow making similar money to John Cena, that's just utter BS, and I say this as someone who somewhat agrees with a many of the Tenants of Communism (Someone will misconstrue that).

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Also, I still will have no sympathy for anyone making 6 figure salaries for not making enough money.

Yeah, I can't exactly say I'm being kept awake at night worrying about how Ryback can only afford to have the blue Dodge Viper instead of the red one.

According to a report that came out last week, the average salary, without factoring in merchandise percentages, bonuses from ppvs, etc. is $500,000. Factoring all that in, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Ryback is making somewhere around $700,000 to $900,000 a year.

 

[BuriedByCena]

There is no way Ryback makes $700-900K a year. He makes $400K MAX and that's me being generous.

 

[Azane]

There is no way Ryback makes $700-900K a year. He makes $400K MAX and that's me being generous.

That's about what he's making before Merchandise, ppv bonuses etc...

Still, 400k is about 10 years for me.

One thing to note, before the WWE Network, the PPV buy bonus was something that held a lot of peoples contract together, I havent watched closely, But I'd assume the WWE has compensated it's workers for the loss of the huge amount of PPV Buys the Network has taken. I think most contracts have been renewed since the network took over the ppv scene.

 

[Navi]

There is no way Ryback makes $700-900K a year. He makes $400K MAX and that's me being generous.

400k a year is nothing to sneeze at and I'm sure a lot of us would be happy making that kind of money. I also think like JH says, he wouldn't be so upset if he was in Reigns' shoes right now he'd be as happy as Larry. It's because he isn't getting the big push he's pissed.

While other's like Ziggler who also came out and said something, it wasn't quite as in depth as Ryback has been of late. I'm sure Barrett was probably feeling the same way. He did what Ryback should have done, he said up front he wouldn't be renewing.

Ryback might have thought that the idea of he walking would be enough for the WWE to cave to his demands, but that obviously isn't the case. Shame really cause I liked the guy. He floundered a little here and there, but he had a good position on the roster, he wasn't a Jack Swagger and brought home a good paycheck.

Adam Rose on the other hand is a different story. His situation isn't the same at all, and if he's right then the WWE owes him an apology. If they knew he was taking the medication as part of treatment for an illness and had been for a long time, add to the fact that it was prescribed for him by a doctor, then I have no idea what they are doing. They have made themselves look bad. We have only heard one side of the story, but it's a pretty convincing one by Rose. What reason would he have to lie, especially when he can back up his claims? So I don't think he's raging against the machine just sticking up for himself.

 

[Skinsley]

Neither of these two athletes have even a smidge of the backstage clout required for this to be a none-issue for them. If it was Reigns, you'd bet your bottom dollar it would be a different story, although I'd assume he would still get in trouble for a wellness policy as expected.

Adam Rose has a legitimate gripe here, by going public and making a statement that is very personal I hope he gets some backstage sympathy and maybe a let off for the comments. Losing a family member to drugs and feeling you need to clear your name to the public seems like a damn good reason to pipe up.

Ryback on the other hand is just butthurt, nothing more. He worded his argument very well with the equal pay thing but he's forgetting how a business works. He only makes the money that WWE feel he is worth to them, he may have a legitimate gripe about not receiving the push he deserves but the same can be said about multiple other wrestlers on the roster that have yet to be given their chance. There is only so many people you can push and only so many championships. All he has done here is hinder his career and certainly his immediate future with WWE, chucking all his toys out his pram like he's done here is certainly going to either send him into the jobsquad for a while, or wish him well with his future endeavors. He's nothing special, he's not a talent Vince would lose an ounce of sleep over.....so why would he shoot himself in the foot like this?

 

[OYDK]

Do people think Ryback and Rose really care about losing their jobs at this point? If they were worried about job security, both guys would have just shut their mouths and dealt with their issues in private. This seems more like a "go down swinging" type of situation, one in which Rose and Ryback are trying their damndest to oust the "corruption" in WWE before they eventually get canned. Look, I don't have a problem with this... WWE is ultimately a company run by controlling, dictatorial, petty, and sometimes just plain scummy businessmen. It's fine when the fans say something but as soon as a wrestler tries to speak out on the stigma, he/she is usually labeled as ungrateful, envious, selfish, what have you.

Ryback does strike me as somebody who is angry about his spot, but he also strikes me as someone that has been unhappy for a long time. I doubt these thoughts just popped into his head on the day he decided to speak out. I don't agree that everyone should get payed the same amount, when it comes to wrestling that's akin to fucking blasphemy and it definitely SHOULD NOT happen in my opinion, but I respect Ryback's right to argue for unionization, or something similar. It's obvious he has thought a lot about these sorts of things and I would easily say he's a better judge of what goes on backstage than anybody on this site. Has anyone ever thought that perhaps this isn't just Ryback bringing these issues up in relation to himself, but for other guys in the locker room as well? I doubt Ryback is the only one to ever think or talk about this. I doubt he sticks around as he apparently is looking for a big money which WWE is not willing to pay him... he's basically dug his own grave with his comments. I don't think he'll be too upset.

As for Rose, right now I'm on his side completely. WWE has yet to issue a statement and has known about this for a while now. It kind of leads me to believe that they have no answer for the doctor's note but I'd like to here exactly why Rose was suspended in the first place before making a concrete decision. This is just odd all around. I doubt they fire him though, that would just be a "PR NIGHTMARE", and we can't have that of course... Better to just punish him when he gets back, that's the way WWE works.

At the end of the day, I'm happy that wrestlers are starting to stand up in an industry where they are increasingly treated like well-paid animals. The level of control WWE has over every aspect of it's company is detrimental to the product, and I'm hoping this string of speaking out leads to the wrestlers finally dictating more of their own actions, creative decision, etc. We're still a long ways away from that, but it seems to be the direction that the industry is heading in again.

 

[dsotm5150]

Unless you go into business for yourself you will never find anybody that's going to pay you what you think you are worth. Doesn't matter what your job is. The rule of business in general is you hire the most talented individuals you can for the lowest price possible. Just the way it goes. You wouldn't accept a job somewhere, then demand that you get paid the same amount as your co-workers who has done the job for x amount of years and outproduces/sells you. You'd be told where the door was.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

Let's pay all the talent equally! so we fire the bottom 60% and have a 20 man roster and rehash the same stuff, and never let anyone break into the industry.

Doesn't real sports have a union with their players association and a CBA? And similar to the WWE they are paid contractually and don't have equal pay. It's not like everyone has the same salary of Sidney Crosby right?

So I don't think even if there's a union it will be structure where compensation will be the same between talents.

 

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

I don't favour the "communism" model of pay at all as some are calling it, but I do favour a fairer balance, and fully believe that wrestlers should count as actors and thus belong to Equity/whatever Guild for Performing Artists. However, I'm fairly convinced that all wrestlers' contracts in WWE are above Equity minimum wage. They do not need a new specific union, since I think they should be able to belong to a performers' union. Even strippers can belong to them and rightfully so.

An equal pay might encourage some "resting on laurels" since there are fewer incentives to rise up the card, although personally if there was equal pay, I'd still want titles for the glory

 

[Navi]

It would almost be impossible for the WWE to unionize it's workers. And even if they did, not everyone would be on the same pay scale. You have to take into consideration how many times a year they perform, their position on the roster and how much merchandise they move. Not only that their years of experience should also come into play here.

So let's take someone like Owens. He has 14 years experience in the business, a former ROH world champion, works house shows, weekly TV and PPV's. Not only that he moves a lot of merchandise and right now is the number one heel on the roster. So by rights should he make the same amount of money as wrestlers like Baron Corbin or Apollo Crews (not saying their bad wrestlers just using them as an example here)?

Or Bray Wyatt the leader of the Wyatt family. He does all the promo work for the group, wrestle's, but putting him in a union would mean he would make the same amount of money as Braun Strowman or Erik Rowan. Somehow that doesn't seem fair.

Even on mainstream TV shows which SAG does sort of govern, the lead actors always make more money than the supporting cast. It's down to the fact that their name brings in viewers, not extra #235.

Other sports have unions and not everyone on the team would make the same amount. Sydney Crosby one of the best NHL players out there makes millions off endorsements and his name puts asses in the seats. A guy just called up from their farm team would make nothing compared to what he brings and he shouldn't. Crosby has spent years working to be the best he can at his sport and should be rewarded for it.

If Ryback didn't like the contract that was offered to him, then quite honestly he shouldn't have signed it to begin with. He seems to say he understands the business but he doesn't really like the politics that go along with it. Well he most likely knew what he was signing when he signed it, and he really can't bitch and complain now. I have no sympathy really for someone making a 6 figure salary when most would give their eye teeth to be in his position.

 

[yourdamnluck]

Unionism will surely kill the business.
They tried to push Ryback and the crowd thoroughly rejected him. He didn't had much else to offer. At best he can be an NXT gatekeeper. He got more than enough chances and now he's preaching communism. Vince is wise enough to deal with people like Ryback.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Of course you can't pay all the talent equally. Wtf is this BS. Ryback is half-right and half-wrong.

He shouldn't be paid equally with John Cena, because Cena is in the main event division, but he should be paid equally with Kalisto, because they both are in the midcard division.

WWE should pay their talent given the division they're in, Main Event, Upper Mid-Card, Mid-card, Low-card. I don't understand Ryback. He thinks he's underutilized? I think he's in the perfect spot, the Mid-card. He could never have been anything else to be frank. Sure it was creative's falut back in 2012, because he was put in a position he was not ready to deliver. But he hasn't shown much progress since. He had some moments, but that's it.

Ryback doesn't like his contract? Then leave. Bitching about your job publicly is bitch move to do, IMO. Ryback's dream is to wrestle? Then go somewhere else and wrestle. You can't have it both ways if you're not good enough.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

If this is what it's leading to, then it'll never remotely get off the ground just like any other attempts at doing so in the past.

As has been pointed out, accurately I might add, not everyone can make the same amount of money and the guys who currently are and have been making the biggest chunk of change on the roster would most certainly not be in support of it. According to a report that came out last week, if accurate, the average WWE wrestler has a $500,000 base salary and that's before the inclusion of various bonuses for ppvs, merchandise percentages, etc.

I don't think this has anything to do with campaigning for a union, I think it's just another bullshit rant from a disgruntled wrestler who feels he isn't getting what he "deserves." Ryback believes he should be a main event level talent and he's upset because he isn't, plain and simple. If WWE pushed Ryback to a main event spot where he was making the top level money, you wouldn't hear a peep out of him because he'd have gotten what he wanted. I don't believe Ryback is interested in changing the business anymore than CM Punk was; I just think he's posturing as the only change I think he really wants is to be the top guy. Punk didn't get it, partially, because all he ever did was bitch, moan and gripe about everything as he was never happy with anything and Ryback sabotaged his own shot at being elevated by not wanting to do the extra work that goes along with being one of the top guys.

 

[Cats Pajamas]

I don't know if I'd make this a case about Unions or Communism versus Capitalism as much as it is just a case of a guy who overestimates his value:

I was told to head home until we agree or not agree to specific terms and contrary to reports it isn’t over money or a bus that stuff was settled a while ago.

Excuse me, a bus? Why are you mentioning buses? Your career peaked four years ago, Mr. Dooly. Unless you mean specifically Greyhound bus fare, I don't even know what planet you're on.

I don't completely disagree with Ryback, but I do think he picked the wrong hill to die on. Suggesting that "losers should make as much as winners" isn't even something that sounds right, not even for predetermined wrestling. After all, Ryback (a self-proclaimed proud Loser) is about to lose his job because of how replaceable people in his position are. In fact, with NXT funneling people onto Raw from all over the globe, he's more replaceable than ever! I don't even think they would have kept him around in NXT for six and a half years like they did in their previous developmental system. Opportunities come and go faster than ever, it seems.

Actually, Ryback touches on a better point that will probably get buried by the rest of his horseshit which is his status as an independent contractor. If there's an inequality he should address, that's it. Because as it stands right now, WWE has ultimate say in whether or not their talent can accept other work and it's hard to believe that a wrestler should turn down a role in a movie simply because Vince can't get an Executive Producer credit. Wrestler's should also be able to accept endorsement deals or be featured in magazines, within reason.

Ryback said some other things in his rant about not being taken seriously as a creative person and he probably feels there's some truth to that.A lot of guys have talked about how difficult it can be to successfully pitch an idea to the boss. However I don't think he believes what he's saying about winners and losers being paid the same. I think he'd rather just be a winner.