WWE News: WWE Changes Their Talent Contracts Due CM Punk And Alberto Del Rio Departures
Sometimes it takes a mistake for something to change. WWE has learned this the hard way, but not quite as much as we had hoped. WWE has to decided to change the way they structure WWE talent contracts. There are rules for how the no compete clause works for all who sign or re-sign with WWE.
After CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio left the WWE, both were fired for very different reasons. WWE let Del Rio go over an issue regarding a fight that he got into with a social media manager who used racial remarks toward him. Most felt Del Rio was in the right, but to avoid a lawsuit, WWE fired Del Rio soon after.
CM Punk, on the other hand, simply chose to leave and not come back. He admitted in the now infamous Colt Cabana podcast that he was suspended through WrestleMania and then eventually fired… on his wedding day.
Both had no compete clauses that took effect in a major way upon firing. A normal no compete was around 90 days after the day of firing. This was usual, but for WWE’s top talent they took a bigger precaution. Del Rio had a year long no compete and Punk had something similar. Both had their no competes thrown out due to lawsuits filed.
However, now WWE has changed things around for everyone’s contract. According to The Wrestling Observer, WWE has now changed all no competes to one year upon firing. They have included all Pro-Wrestling and now MMA organizations. A talent also forfeits all merchandise rights. Some find the last strange, as WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has claimed numerous times that MMA, specifically UFC, is not competition to WWE.
The one year add-on for all is also unfair for talent. Basically, it is a punishment to be released by WWE. Of course, talent can still work Indy shows. They simply cannot work TV spots for anyone in that time. We can probably expect another lawsuit to happen with a future former talent. One year long is quite high, however it does help WWE out.
For example, if by chance WWE released Randy Orton or John Cena, despite the very unlikely possibility, WWE would not lose ratings that they brought in from them to another company in three months. Rather, they’d have a full year to come back from it and the other company would get someone no one has seen in a year.
While the eventual thought of losing someone like Orton or Cena would help any other wrestling company when they came in, the idea is that WWE wouldn’t lose to another company almost immediately if that happened. Regardless of what WWE has gone through with Punk and Del Rio, the contract change could have simply made things harder on them in the future. We’ll have to see if this change comes back to bite them.
[IMG Credit: WWE.com]
