More Details On WWE’s New Policy Against Third Party Platforms

It was reported last week that WWE was banning superstars from engaging with third party platforms, although that was later clarified by WWE. The rule now is that talent can’t use their stage names on third party platforms and with endorsements. They also have to get permission from the WWE to do so. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter has more information on the situation, including who the policy applies to and how long Vince McMahon has been wanting to implement it.

WWE explained to the talent that this isn’t actually a new policy but a reminder of their contractual agreements. They were encouraged to be active on social media, but they can’t use WWE’s intellectual property (i.e. their ring names and characters) to make money. In other words, someone like Bray Wyatt couldn’t use The Fiend to make money outside of WWE, but may be allowed to under his real name of Windham Rotunda. Even then, it will be a case-by-case situation, depending on the details and communication with WWE.

There was a belief when the policy was first issued that talent wouldn’t be allowed to use Cameo or Twitch, and possibly Youtube. However, it’s believed that WWE wants talent on Youtube and Twitter to promote WWE and themselves. Talent were told instead to switch to their real names and would have to let WWE know. This came after talent were told by Mark Carrano that WWE owned their real names and they couldn’t circumvent the policy that way. This confused some talent, but it was said the policy was relatively vague because it is constantly changing.

Vince McMahon has wanted to do something about this for months when the situation was first revealed to him. He wanted to put a stop to everything but then the COVID-19 pandemic happened. Until recently, he had talked about doing something but never did. One of the biggest problems was that talents were using WWE names in sponsorship deals.

Some of the talent were privately upset, as they had been earning less due to the pandemic and were using things like Cameo to make up the lost money. It was also noted that Bruce Prichard is an executive and makes money from his podcast, but backed up Vince McMahon on the decision.