AJ Styles On WWE Taking Control of Twitch Accounts, Says Better Communication Is Needed, Talks Independent Contractor Status

AJ Styles waded into the issue of WWE planning to take control of their talents’ Twitch accounts at the end of the month, discussing the matter on his Twitch stream yesterday. Styles is one of many prominent WWE stars who have maintained their own Twitch streams for some time, Styles being on Mixer before moving to Twitch earlier in the year. Talking about the issue, Styles said that he didn’t know what was going to happen and said WWE needs to do a better job communicating around the issue to its talent. He also briefly touched on WWE classifying its talent as independent contractors as well. You can check out highlights below:

On WWE taking over Twitch accounts: “Everybody wants to know, ‘Are we going to have Twitch? Is Twitch gonna happen?’ I’m gonna be honest with you; I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t know what they expect from us when it comes to our channel. I don’t know if it’s something that they go, ‘Well okay, listen. We just want you guys under, you know, an umbrella. Like a WWE Twitch, and here’s who’s under this. Here’s what time they come on. If that’s the case, that’s great because fans would know where to find us. I don’t know that that’s going to happen. I literally don’t know, and unfortunately I found out a lot of stuff just like you guys, through the internet, which is a shame. You’d think it’d be better than that. For guys who are on here trying to — not only work for WWE, but then do their own Twitch and stuff like that. You’d think it’d be a lot easier for them to communicate with us and us alone instead of whoever it is behind the scenes, and them going and talking to Joe Blow and they having more information than us. Is anything set in stone? I don’t think so. I think nothing is. I think it’s going to come down to communication.”

On talents’ use of Twitch to date: “We’re not pro gamers, so we’re not making millions on Twitch. That’s not what is happening. I feel like for us, it’s an opportunity to do what we love. Play video games, interact with our fans, appreciate you guys appreciating us. That’s basically what’s [going on]. And especially with what’s going on right now, there’s no — we don’t get to see you guys anymore, unless you’re on the video screens in the ThunderDome. We don’t get to see you, we don’t get to talk to you, we don’t get to do much of anything when it comes to seeing or at least talking to our fans. So this is the next best thing. I don’t know what they’re hoping to get out of this. The communication has not been as great as we’d like. And there’s a lot of us, we are all on the same page, we’ve talked with each other. We’re all facing the same [thing], either doom and gloom or, ‘Oh, that’s all they want.’ You know? I feel like this is an opportunity for me and my channel to say, ‘Okay listen, this is what’s really going on,’ and debunk some stupid rumors that are going on. And give you my opinion.”

On WWE’s independent contractor classification of talent: “Listen, WWE is a great place to work. Despite what people think. Despite what’s going on with the Twitch, and stuff like that. There just needs to be better direction, lines in the sand, I guess you could say. Like, ‘You don’t cross this. You can’t do this.’ Because there is that crazy thing about us being an independent contractor. I know, it sounds crazy; yes we are. But there’s rules we have to follow as if we are not independent contractors. That’s a whole nother can you don’t even want to open up. It’s just, trust me on this one. And I don’t want anyone else to open it up. I understand what is expected of me, and I’d rather keep it that way. But we need to know exactly what they want when it comes to — and I say ‘they,’ WWE. We are WWE. We need to figure out what is needed of us when it comes to our platforms. So I don’t know. It seems like a roundabout way to tell you I don’t know what’s gonna happen.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit AJ Styles with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.