The McMahon Effect

You get a look at what Vince McMahon has done in 2020, and it's obvious it's a very bad year. The XFL faltered, health issues all around, and the way he has run WWE. I'm not into wrestling. Never really have. Seen YouTube videos of old matches, though. It's a "sport" that never caught my attention. But his firing of one of the wrestlers shines a light into how bad it has gotten and scares other wrestlers to speak out publicly.

The latest firing is a result of Thea Budgen, who goes under her wrestling name Zelina Vega. Within the last month or two, WWE has forced their wrestlers to stop using sites like Twitch. I don't know if it's a money thing or power for McMahon to do whatever he wants, but it has not been met with anything good. The last couple months have also seen Andrew Yang go after them for the company's actions. Saraya Bevis, who goes by Paige, has spoken out about it and the greediness of WWE. With how things sound, it gets more concerning.

There is no union in the WWE. Obviously, wrestling can be damaging physically, mentally, emotionally, and psychologically. But not having one is awful. Vega has gotten support. The fact that SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris supported her says a lot. You'd wish other wrestlers would come out publicly with what is going on, but I think there is fear. Fear that if they say something, McMahon would go after them and potentially fire them. I keep reading that they are independent contractors. If they truly are, why force them to stay with WWE? Think about some of the wrestlers that could have had health insurance and some of this other stuff back in the day. They are wearing their bodies out for entertainment. 

I don't know what WCW or ECW was like back then, but I would think it had better support of their wrestlers more than WWF/WWE. I would think smaller ones and some of the competitors like NXT and AEW do a much better job. I think McMahon is out of touch with how things work now. They haven't been big in a very long time since the early Cena days. Too many controversies, too many bad moments. How much more will it take before the company craters? If it doesn't, fans should hope a new CEO will take over and not act like McMahon.