WWE will begin taking control of personal Twitch accounts owned by WWE Superstars over the next few weeks, leaving their “independent contractors” with only a percentage of the revenue they usually make every month from the service. The news was broken by the WrestlingInc.com website.
In addition, an e-mail from Vince McMahon sent to all talent reminded them of the October 2 deadline to stop doing business with third parties – such as Cameo and YouTube – or risk getting fined, suspended, or even terminated.
The news of McMahon’s original request drew tons of negative publicity which resulted in WWE issuing a press statement to defend their position. Talent were eventually told that they would be allowed to run their own channels under their real names and not using their WWE-trademarked name.
Several WWE talent, including the likes of Roman Reigns, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Bayley, Lana, Natalya, Paige, AJ Styles, Ric Flair etc are all on Cameo or have very successful Twitch or YouTube channels and with a lot of downtime on their hands since they’re not on the road anymore, it’s a good way to keep engaging with fans while also earning money at the same time.
