A lawsuit has been filed against World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), claiming that the rough schedule that WWE employs, as well as the tight scripting and controlling of the product within WWE created hazardous working conditions that have contributed to several wrestlers experiencing traumatic brain injuries and Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). In all, 53 professional wrestlers, who at one point or another in their careers worked for or were associated with WWE, are plaintiffs in this lawsuit. There are a few things that are strange about this lawsuit, and about the individuals involved.
One issue that has arisen in the lawsuit is the presence of individuals who are still active professional wrestlers. There are individuals listed as plaintiffs in this lawsuit who are still active performers in companies other than WWE, so if these people are suffering from chronic brain injuries, then how could they currently be involved in the profession, continuing to take bumps and amass concussions? Seemingly, if they were suffering from life threatening brain injuries, as many NFL players have done recently, these individuals would have retired from the business and would have sought treatment for their injuries.
Another issue is that there are several wrestlers listed on the lawsuit that either never wrestled for WWF/WWE, worked for WWF/WWE after lengthy careers with other companies, or only worked for WWF/WWE for very brief periods. There are a couple of individuals who either signed with WWE but were never allowed to perform, or who were assigned to WWE’s developmental company and never worked the grueling WWE scheduled, as the developmental company operated out of a single city. Many of these wrestlers worked primarily for companies whose tape libraries and intellectual properties are currently owned by WWE, but whose careers were never governed by WWE.
Before this goes too far, understand that I am not attempting to defend WWE or Vince McMahon, but on the surface, there are some things that about this lawsuit that confuse me, or that I have questions about.
One of the points made in the filing of the lawsuit is the fact that the performers sign contracts as independent contractors, which deny them medical benefits while also denying them the freedom to pursue opportunities outside of the company. This is a point where in the process of signing a contract with a company, one would have to ask themselves to decide between the amount of money promised in the agreement and the wording of the contract. If it is more important to make as much money as possible, regardless of the circumstances that contribute to the money being made, then we cannot and should not complain about the wording of the contract after the fact. On the other hand, if the wording of the contract is important, and there are some issues within the contract that are not favorable, that contract should not be signed as written, no matter the amount of money promised.
Finally, the lawsuit stipulates that the individuals were not informed about the potential dangers associated with repeated brain injuries and concussions, Since this information has been available for less than 20 years as it currently exists, WWE might not have been able to inform and educate individuals who were employed with the company prior to the information becoming available.
Again, I am not defending WWE or attempting to win their case for them, but it doesn’t take much of a law degree to see that these issues, on the surface, do not make much sense to laymen. I do concede that there may be more to the lawsuit, and I confess that I haven’t read the entire 214-page complaint, and am simply commenting on the information that has been released in the media. However, this case is one of many that have been filed and will be filed against WWE, the NFL, the NHL, and possibly the UFC, Bellator, Pride and other companies that sanction Mixed Martial Arts matches.
Concussions and CTE are serious issues and no one should have to spend their lives suffering from chronic headaches, dizziness and memory loss. No one who chose to become a professional wrestler signed up for this condition in their declining years, but contact sports create injuries. There is no way of knowing if they would have chosen professional wrestling as a profession if they had known that brain injuries and their after effects were a part of the package, but who is to say that they might not have chosen the profession anyway, despite the risks. As Fats Waller used to say “One never knows, do one”.
Follow Eric E. Jenkins on Twitter @ericejenkins65
Follow Eric E. Jenkins on Twitter @ericejenkins65
