What if the WWE had to lockout??

[CM Steel]

With the NFL lockout ending pretty soon hopefully. It looks like this years NFL season will be under way.

But what if the WWE or any other wrestling promotion for that matter had to lockout there whole operation, which is 250 days on the road as a WWE superstar. This U.S. economy is still going down quicker than a $10 hooker. So what if one day WWE chairman Vince McMahon came in to a WWE show backstage and just drops the news to everybody that there could be a future lockout of the company due to money issues.

Can you image life without WWE RAW or Smackdown for weeks, months at a time? Can you image the people who work for the WWE being out of work for that period of time who have to work to support there familys?? Because a (top) WWE superstar gets paid in full whenever the WWE are doing very well at that point. Superstars like John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, and the Big Show have there very own tour bus for there familys so they can still be with each other while there on the road. And the new crowned prince of the WWE Triple H is doing 3X's beteer than those guys in money and family support for obvious reason's.

So by next buyrate period. Do you think if not by then that the WWE could go on a lockout of their own if it came down to the money??

 

[bigandpissed]

I'm not sure that can happen just based on the fact the only reason the Nfl and NBA are lock out is because of collective bargaining (they negotiate certain things for the everyone in the union) with the Players Unions. there is no wrestler union, they are independent contractors. they negotiate they're own contracts, there is no collective bargaining for independent contractors. Individual wrestlers may hold out but there will never be any sort of lockout.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I'm not sure that can happen just based on the fact the only reason the Nfl and NBA are lock out is because of collective bargaining (they negotiate certain things for the everyone in the union) with the Players Unions. there is no wrestler union, they are independent contractors. they negotiate they're own contracts, there is no collective bargaining for independent contractors. Individual wrestlers may hold out but there will never be any sort of lockout.

This, pretty much. I don't think wrestlers can do such a a thing since they're under individual contracts. I'm sure that if the roster as a whole decided that they were going on strike that they may have a shot at management caving to their demands since they could lose an ass ton of money if they don't have workers for the show. But legally it seems that they would be in a lot of trouble due to them breaching their contract. Besides, I'm sure that there are quite a bit of people who work for them who couldn't go long without a paycheck before they start to feel the consequences.

They aren't under any kind of union label so I doubt they could do such a thing.

 

[rge2010]

I can imagine life without Raw & Smackdown because I am firmly in support of their being an 'off season' for 3 months of the year. Allow wrestlers to heel their bodies, spend time at home etc. Lost revenue can be replenished by smaller contracts.

I also think in this off season under utilisied talent could get a chance to shine. Maybe keep Superstars running from a studio somewhere (like an Impact Zone). Still get our wrestling fill.

 

[Athena]

I think the TC's post was meant to be taken as - "What would the consequences be if the WWE had a lockout?" as opposed to "Could the WWE be locked out?" and as the first two replies stated, is pretty much impossible due to the individual contracts. I think the idea quite interesting though.

WWE would need to scramble quickly in order to find some sort of programming to fill the Raw and Smackdown timeslots, else face some very unhappy TV execs from Syfy and USA (NBC). Until a deal could be reached, I'd expect that they would do highlight shows or start showing some vintage pay-per-views, perhaps from the early WCW days to at least have something to put on air. All storylines would instantly lost momentum as would anyone getting a push at the time of the lockout. An interesting return storyline could be that one of the "rich" heels, like ADR, threw some money around in order to set events into motion, resulting in a lock out.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Couple things.
1) The US economy isn't THAT bad. Yea unemployment is high but a lot of that is because it's the unskilled labor that's unemployed and they're getting more money on welfare than they would working. Plus a lot of factory jobs are gone for the foreseeable future because when everything went under in late '08 early '09 companies cut factories and moved them overseas where labor is cheaper.

2) This is impossible. There is no wrestler's union. There is no collective bargaining agreement. I guess all the wrestlers could hold WWE ransome until Vince allows them to create a union and some sort of health benefit group. Which I'd be all for. Wrestlers need health care.

 

[Savior with faith 101]

In this scenario, WWE could just go to ROH, TNA, PWG or any other promotion, pick the best and say "here you go guys, have the ball and run with it"...ROH and PWG would be delighted with the exposure, whether Vince would go to TNA or not is another story but desperate times call for desperate measures. Also there are all the youngsters from developmental. You could have a roster of the following:

Davey Richards
Seth Rollins
Bo Rotunda
Brett Dibiase
Percy Watson
Kings of Wrestling
The Briscoe Brothers
Brodus Clay
Derrick Bateman
Epico
Hunico
Xavier Woods
Kurt Angle
Matt Morgan
Austin Aries
AJ Styles

Now while TNA may be skeptical about these guys effectively having tryouts with WWE im sure if there was an agreement made to allow them to plug TNA and compensation was paid this could work. It could actually be great for the business, give the smaller companies more exposure so they grow and are able to produce more talent, back to the days of the territories where some of the greats honed their craft elsewhere then stepped up as seasoned veterans and i think many people would still tune in to see the new talent and potentially more fans may even tune in to see what happens as im sure the lock out would garner huge interest.

 

[fenfool]

Yeah, with no union, and therefore no collective bargaining, there would be no lockout. Contracts are done on an individual, paid contractor basis, so Vince locking everyone out would be basically closing the business for good. Vince not paying the talent would be an immediate flood of lawsuits. If somehow this all was ignored, I guess he would promote everyone in FCW...though could you imagine a scab in wrestling having to one day work with a locked out employee? Ouch.

 

[Pedigree1]

The US economy does suck... It has something to do with greece but whatever thats not the subject at hand. Could the WWE lockout?? Not likely but its possible only way i could see it happening is everyone and i mean everyone threatens not to show or wrestle unless vinnie-mac somehow comes up with a union plan for his employees more importantly some sort of health-care system!! As being a independant contractor my understanding is they are responsible for their own health care taxes etc.. I think thats not right times have changed vinnie-mac could figure out how to make this a union!!! Thats the only way i could see wwe locking out all the talent band together and want a union or they dont work!!!

 

[The Rich]

I doubt there will ever be a situation where we will go without Raw or SmackDown for any number of weeks. WWE hasn't had an off season in decades and i doubt they will start now. One thing i beleive they should consider though is maybe holding no house shows during a certain part of the year, possibly (November-December). By all means the WWE Superstars should be expected to be at RAW/SmackDown TV tapings, but i think it would be a jesture of goodwill by WWE to allow their performers a 4 week break from house shows and all other public appearances during the holidays, let them rest up, spend time with their families, and come back in the new year refreshed and better than ever.

 

[mrpops]

Problem is the shitty wrestlers need those 4+ house shows a week to make money because they arent on TV. Losing a month of money isnt worth it to them.

How the fuck is zack ryder, yoshi tatsu....and um... no name x wrestler supposed to survive without a month of work/money?

Sure they get time to heal and see their familys....but at a cost.

So, WWE should bite the bullet and pay all the wrestlers for time off/vacation pay/whatever you want to call it.

 

[silrock316]

LOL this is awesome.

Compare WWE to the NFL. Tried that XFL style.

There is the owner association and a player association and the owners and the players come to terms on everything from TV money to jersey sales.

WWE, what Vince says, GOES. Period. There cant be a lockout like the NFL. The Owners of the NFL locked out the players from doing anything but the players went on strike FIRST.

If John Cena came in and said him a few guys were going on strike Vince would laugh at them. They have NO SAY at all. Maybe HHH because of Steph but even that is a stretch. WWE wrestlers, the vast majority are all self represented, meaning the wrestlers dont work as a team under a union roof. There for guys like Cena will get more of a cut of the merchandise than say D Bryan as Booker calls him.

It is a case by case situation with the wrestlers and Vince makes the rules and if the wrestlers dont like it they can take their ball like CM Punk and go. Thats why there can be no lockout in the WWE because the wrestlers really dont impact decisions like money.

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

the wrestlers theoretically could all refuse to go on at some point and get better working conditions, the problem is none of them can be trusted to do so, and Vince knows this. It is too easy for a few to earn favor by snitching or by crossing the line (no pun intended). If the wrestlers were to band together and refuse to work until conditions get better (like an offseason) vince would have no choice but to cave (esp if it was by Mania for instance), but the problem is no wrestler can be trusted, and it's not to say that is just because they are bad ppl or stupid, some really can't afford the risk as wrestling is their only means of a livelihood, and again, Vince KNOWS this, he created this situation where he holds control.

As for a lockout, as many people pointed out already, can't happen since there is no union or CBA, BUT if for whatever reason Vince had a reason to and we are hypothesizing what would happen, well, i think it'd be a HUGE hit for them, one that may be tough to come back from, esp the way they have been skating by as is. Once people go w/o wrestling for a long period of time, they may and probably will find other sources of entertainment and realize they don't really need wrestling. Those 3.0 ratings would drop to lows that the wwe can't sustain, and may never rise back enough to avoid massive changes.

 

[theHeadliner]

There is no Wrestler's Union, and Vince is the most anti-union guy around. Guys were fired back in the 1980s just for bringing the topic of Unions up (Jesse Ventura was one of them). Vince has the one and only say so in regards to all the agreements and contracts. The wrestlers are independent contractors, and they sign with the WWE knowing that. If they all decided to go on strike one day then technically I guess you could call it a lockout, but Vince is so ruthless he'd fire them all.

 

[EastCoastFan]

Wrestlers don't have a union or collective bargaining (every attempt to create one failed), so the likelihood of a lockout would be very slim to none.

For sake of argument, if it did happen, that would mean no shows being put on, which means no TV, no ad revenue, no PPV buys, no ticket sales, merch sales would be limited to wweshopzone.com, ... Depending on how long it lasted, it could hurt WWE big time.

 

[DeathClutch]

I'm a supporter of wresters have a break, the problem is WWE can "tape" shows but if you've noticed a trend when they tape RAW (straight after a live RAW) the ratings the following week are down. Simply because fans get the results and aren't compelled to tune in (Same with Smackdown) but for the chance of say a months rest say around December then WWE could easily do it, say LIVE RAW/Taped RAW at the start of the month, PPV/LIVE RAW/Taped RAW and simply work 3 days and have the rest of the month off.

As pointed out thou, a lot of these guys the lower card guys need house shows for paydays, and no shows = no money for them and WWE, it's the contracts their on (self contactors) so in theory they the wrestlers know what they've gotten themselves into.

But all in all I'd be happy to see maybe a month break, a lot of the guys are getting injured to easily and probably need a time out and December is a pretty quiet month leading up to the Rumble.

 

[NegativeFeedback]

Although impossible, I'll go ahead and answer the question "What if WWE had a lockout?"

The immediate thing WWE will do is approach a few wrestlers. Very few. Some guys will be total company men (John Cena, Triple H, Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, etc.) WWE will just fill the programming with them, and maybe get as much legends and draws to fill the rest of the hours. They also have guys like Matt Striker, Jerry Lawler, Booker T, Sgt. Slaughter, Jamie Noble, Norman Smiley, William Regal, Joey Mercury and Ricky Steamboat in non-wrestler roles and they're ALL able to wrestle a match if told to do so.

We'll probably get longer matches and segments due to the lack of people on the show.

A typical episode would go like this:

1. John Cena comes to the ring to talk about the lockout. Triple H interferes. Thanks him for being a company guy and then tells him to give the people what they want and have a title match in the main event with Trips.
2. Jerry Lawler vs. Alberto Del Rio with Del Rio going over, possibly cutting a promo.
3. Booker T possibly cutting a crappy segment with Michael Cole.
4. Joey Mercury vs. Jamie Noble with Mercury going over.
5. Sgt. Slaughter and Ricky Steamboat vs. William Regal and Matt Striker
6. Some rather long segment involving Mr. McMahon and someone like The Miz if he stays.
7. Triple H vs. John Cena for the WWE title for about 40 minutes with Cena going over and Del Rio challenging him the week after.

Anyway, this will probably go on for weeks until WWE just decides to sign different people, release all the backstabbers and wait until most of the protestors cave in.

Not much of a lockout if you ask me.

 

[Mercer the Ruthless]

Now Obviously as so many have pointed out, a lockout would not due to how the contracting and such works and the overall structure of the company. It just won't happen in any form. Now WWE or a wrestling promotion using the lockout thing as a storyline would be good but that's another story for another time.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

To the OP, No chance in hell of a lock-out happening in the WWE, ROH,TNA or any wrestling organisation around the world. For satan's sake, as some has said before all wrestlers are independant contractors. So if there is no wrestler unions, there can't be a strike or a lock-out. Now the only thing that could happen, is if the cameramen and light crews went on strike or a lockout.

 

[TheKingHustla]

I think that it might actually give the wrestlers... i mean, superstars a much needed rest to preserve their bodies. I can go without it, honestly, and wouldn't be drawn to another company such as TNA or ROH, because i'm not really that familiar with those stories and people. The biggest thing to me would be giving the people rest. That way they can be healthy and put on great shows whenever they do resume.

Plus, with twitter and all that other mumbo jumbo, they could have some great storylines build during that time. Like lets say R-Truth keeps tweeting about how Cena buried the WWE and all of that stuff, it could be great (Even though I don't follow twitter)

 

[wrestlingfan]

I'm no expert on business negotiations or economics but 1. If WWE had a lockout it may not last long or at leist TNA would've stepped up to the occasion and 2. WWE's doesn't work the same way as Sports does.

 

[jpickens]

Vince will will simply do what he did when Hulk Hogan Randy Savage and the rest of the rock and wrestling connection stars left for WCW in the mid 90s which move his top mid carders up to the main event and bring the guys from ROH TNA and so fourth in other words if the WWEs top tier talent were to strike expect the likes of Koffi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, John Morrison, and Wade Barrett to move up to the main event.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

Vince will will simply do what he did when Hulk Hogan Randy Savage and the rest of the rock and wrestling connection stars left for WCW in the mid 90s which move his top mid carders up to the main event and bring the guys from ROH TNA and so fourth in other words if the WWEs top tier talent were to strike expect the likes of Koffi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, John Morrison, and Wade Barrett to move up to the main event.

Loud price is right buzzer sound. All wrestlers would be on lock-out, so your scenario wouldn't work. Anyways there is no possibility of a strike/lock-out in wrestling, because all wrestlers are independent contractors.

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

Unlike NFL Players the majority of Pro Wrestlers aren't *****es, they sign up to go on the road 24/7/365. They love to entertain, and many of them are in it for more than just the money. You could say that football players have love what they do, but isn't their current dispute around having to play more games and not making any more money? I don't follow the NFL, because as stated above I believe them to be a big bunch of *****es.

Pro Wrestlers (not just in the WWE) love the business, they love the fans, they love what they do. Thats why their willing to go out and do what they love day in and day out.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

No, the dispute is that the billionaire owners want more money. the players, who most of them will make less than 3M in their careers, and the avg career is 3 years long, don't want that to happen. Plus NFL players often retire with permanent brain damage and the NFLPA want that money to go to help retired players deal with their physical ailments. You shouldn't talk out your ass if you don't know what's going on.