Who's Got the Power?

[Mustang Sally]

In the past, Vince McMahon ran things only one way; his way. Everyone who worked for him apparently had to sign contracts that called for them to perform the way he wanted; presumably at his beck and call. They could appear nowhere else, make no mention of their wrestling past with other organizations….and had to travel the whole damn year with virtually no breaks.

Then, came a few performers who possessed “creative control” of their characters…..there’s no telling how this ever came about, given McMahon’s tyrannical ways, but people like Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart had at least partial say over what management wanted them to do: when you consider the results, with both these guys leaving the company with hard feelings, Vince probably wished he had never agreed to it in the first place. Still, the concept of creative control was here to stay and performers with pull surely wanted it in their contracts.

The thing is, who has that pull? It isn’t just creative control I’m talking about; it’s a matter of who in today’s WWE has the real or implied power to force Vince to back down….at least occasionally. I looked at the roster and could come up with only a handful, with each having his own story.

Undertaker: For sure. I’m presuming he wanted to retire outright several years ago but Vince didn’t want to let him go. Mark Calaway probably told Vince he could have the services of ‘Taker, but only on the performer’s terms. Before Undertaker, who really could get things done in this manner? To wrestle once a year? Be paid a boatload of money (presumably) to do it? With ‘Taker, it probably isn’t a matter of creative control; I doubt he cares how he’s used and is happy to go along with what Creative comes up with. But there’s no question who’s in charge here. He can leave whenever he wants and Vince knows ‘Taker doesn’t need WWE in his life anymore. That’s power.

John Cena: We don’t know if he uses the power or how he uses it but just the magnitude of his fame and influence surely calls for his inclusion on this list. We don’t know what this guy gets in salary and from sale of merchandise, but it must be enormous. We don’t know if he’s really the nice guy he seems to be, but even while I’d like to think he is, he doubtless knows the kind of power he wields in WWE…..perhaps even to the point if they try to dissuade him from demanding something he wants by invoking his contract, he could tell them to stick it in their hats; meaning that if they try to fire him or even take him to court, he could laugh at them because he knows his worth and is aware the company simply can’t afford to lose him. At the same time, he’s not Hulk Hogan, demanding to be cast as the conquering hero wherever he goes. Instead, Cena allows himself to be depicted as a flawed human being who takes his share of beatings. For you folks on this forum who hate the “SuperCena” who kicks out of every pinning combination, I give you the guy who turned tail and ran from the ring when pursued by all seven members of Nexus: can you imagine Hogan agreeing to do that? I give you the man who agreed to be bested repeatedly by C.M. Punk. I give you the guy who agreed to lose to Lord Tensai, for the good of the storyline. He’s a company man with power. Jeez.

C.M. Punk: This one really enters unknown territory. Phil Brooks’ entire persona is based on what happened in the Summer of Punk two years ago, a scenario that leaves us with no idea how much was real (if any) and how much was storyline. He insisted he had one foot out the door, although one has to wonder what he would have done with his life and career had he really left the biggest showcase for pro wrestling in the world. Still, some of this stuff must have been true: who gets a world title reign of over 400 days? Who in WWE gets a long vacation that finally ends this Sunday? Who gets to sit cross-legged in the center of the ring to deliver rambling dissertations in that incomparable style of his? Does he have the power to tell WWE what’s going to go down? What do the terms of his contract really allow him to dictate? Or is he simply just another employee of the company who performs as directed? It would be nice to know……yet, not knowing is part of the fascination with C.M. Punk.

Brock Lesnar: In his case, I doubt creative control has anything to do with it; I believe the company sits down with Brock and his representatives (not Paul Heyman; I’m talking about his attorneys and agents) at contract time and hammers out what Brock will be doing in the coming year. Heaven knows, there’s not a lot of ground to cover since he appears so rarely. Unlike a lot of WWE programming, there probably aren’t re-writes, and Brock has to be consulted and agree to any changes the company might want to make along the way. This is power just in the uniqueness of the contract; there’s almost no precedent for this type of thing in WWE history. I wouldn’t be surprised if the rest of the roster hates Brock’s deal, yet the idea of capturing him as an attraction was too much for Vince to resist.

The Rock: There’s hardly a reason to go into it, is there? See Brock…..and add in the fact that Rock doesn’t need WWE financially to make a rather secure living. He’s wrestling because he wants to….he’s doing it because his fans want to see him. He doesn’t have to do any of it. That’s power.

Chris Jericho: Again, I don’t think creative control is something Jericho cares about; he’s probably happy to go along with whatever is written for him. That’s not to say they don’t run things by him; his legendary status merits it. His willingness to portray whatever type of character is needed makes him a great asset for the company. The “power” in Y2J’s contract is in his ability to call the shots as far as when he’ll perform….not how, but when. We read that after WM29, Chris would be gone for a few months; yet, he’s still here. However, we know he’ll disappear to be an aging rocker sooner or later, and the storyline will have to be adjusted to accommodate him. Now, that’s power. Anyone who thinks power always involves creative control should consider Chris Jericho.

Big Show: His seniority and uniqueness as a performer might bring him some power, yet we’ve never read anything about him being demanding or unreasonable. Could be he is that way but chooses to not air his gripes in public, a la Punk. Paul Wight might have a degree of creative control because he’s been around so long, yet I doubt he’d have much call to use it.

Randy Orton: His shenanigans early in his career might have damaged the power he was building. He’s important, but might have gained greater power within the company had he not behaved like a spoiled child. The fact the company suspended him a couple times might have served to show he didn’t have the power he thought he did. Randy might have believed he was such an enormous attraction he could afford to call his shots, but subsequent events undid all that. He might have looked at Cena and figured he had equal pull, only to find he was dead wrong.



Have I missed anyone in today’s WWE? Obviously, I don’t include Triple H because he’s management, not a performer whose contract depends on what he does in the ring. But is there anyone else who commands the power to tell, rather than be told?

 

[MCMG]

The obvious names are Taker, Lesnar, The Rock and Cena. Brock is slightly different. He of course has control over those in power. They want Brock more than he wants the WWE but I think he just turns up when called upon, collects his paycheck and moves on. I don't see him really giving a shit about what he does but that may be the responsibility of his agent.

While I think Orton used to have "power" I think that has changed recently. If he still had pull and the ability to define his own role in the company: one would imagine he would be at the very top.

Jericho is another interesting one. I'm sure he has influence over when and who he wrestles; however, as seen this past year: he came back at the Royal Rumble and then feuded with Fandango. I don't think it is as simple as Jericho demanding this program but I don't see the WWE booking this without consulting him. He is a big star but not in the same level as The Rock or the Undertaker.

Punk has new-found power and Wrestlemania proved that. He was WWE champ for over a year and then faced the Rock and The Undertaker. He is clearly a big star and they will make sure he is happy.

The Miz is another to consider. I know he does a lot of PR for the WWE so maybe he does have a significant amount of pull within the company.

I dismiss guys like The Big Show, Kane and Mysterio. While they are big names who are no-doubt respected, I cannot see them having the pull of the others.

 

[the_vipers_enigma]

Rock, Taker, Cena are the ones that come to my mind. But when I think a little more people like Orton, Lesnar, Punk and Jericho also have power altough not as big as the ones I mentioned at the start of my post. I agree with everything that was said for Cena, Rock and Taker as for Orton, Jericho, Lesnar and Punk I'm not so sure how much power do they have. Yes Jericho proved that he can leave and come back whenever he wants and from what it looks like Vince has no problem with it, because when he is here he does everything that is good for the WWE because let's look at the things the way they are, there is no one on the current roster that has put more people over than Jericho. And by the looks of it he doesn't mind. For Punk I have to say that his power is growing and that is good thing cause Punk has been of the reasons to watch WWE and there aren't many reasons(for me at least). Orton is a man who is one of the biggest names in the wrestling world today, but with him being so childish maybe his power isn't so big any more. He may have power over the people he works with at least that's what I think, but he doesn't have to power to fire people just like he did with Mr Kennedy/Andreson(rumour). But hey many people have said that he is a good friend with Cena(again rumour) so maybe that will help him if he needs it. Lesnar like someone else said is a man that is more needed by the WWE than he needs the WWE. But I will assume that he has the power to choose with who to work and how many shows to have in a year.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

The only person I can imagine having a bit of sway that hasn't been mentioned is Mysterio.

Had Sin Cara or del Rio been able to get as over as Mysterio is then they'd be much more valued by the WWE. Granted, del Rio has done the better out of the 2 and had a great debut feud with Mysterio but I don't think anyone can seriously consider either man coming remotely close to becoming the next Mexican cash cow.

With income, comes power. The past couple of years has seen the relationship between the 2 parties become (allegedly) more tense over contract issues etc, yet Mysterio is still with the company. That definitely suggests some kind of power to me.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The only person I can imagine having a bit of sway that hasn't been mentioned is Mysterio.

Hadn't even thought of Mysterio, I admit. The thing is, does he really have power in the organization? Yes, the kids love to see him and he apparently sells a lot of masks (or we think he does because we see a dozen of 'em on kids as Rey makes his way down the aisle. Could be a set-up because how would it be if WWE left it to the fans and Rey wound up trotting down the aisle on TV only to see no one wearing the damn things?)

But power? Two things come to mind: It's been written he's always miserable about the amount of money he's made during his entire WWE tenure. Admittedly, it's hard to know how to pay a guy like that. How much of a premium do you place on merchandise sales that feature Rey......as opposed to how many people he actually brings to the arena? How do you rate a guy who's there to entertain more than compete (kayfabe)?

Second aspect of power: Does he have the ability to demand that Creative re-direct storylines to his liking? This is the kind of thing I'm talking about with guys like Cena and Punk; I suspect they do and have the pull to alter scripts that involve themselves. Does Rey have that? I imagine he doesn't, since he effectively does the same things match after match and hasn't been involved in the title chase for a long time now. He doesn't need power to deliver his 619s in matches that don't really figure into any continuing plot lines.

The frustration on his part we've read about these past years makes me think he doesn't possess real pull in the organization; that management would be just as happy if he'd call it quits and sign a Legends contract so he'd need to jump off the ropes only once in a while.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Kane is the guy I'd be interested in and JBL in the same way. Not because they're both former champs or long tenured vets, I am interested because of their political views. I don't know exactly what they think about the rights of labor but typically it seems lately everything is about management getting more power. Creative control doesn't seem like the it would be very high on a conservative's mind as a right of the worker.

Otherwise Sally pretty much nailed a topic that is hard to argue as an outsider from the industry.