WWE Superstars Receive More Support To Unionize

WWE Superstars do not have a union, and the same is true for other wrestlers. A pro wrestling union hasn’t happened yet despite being on the top of a list of things that need to probably happen. This is a charged that Alex Riley is very much behind despite the fact that he mostly left the pro wrestling business years ago.

While speaking to Booker T’s Hall of Fame Podcast, Alex Riley went into how it would benefit wrestlers to have a union. The NFL and NBA has a union and he believes it is finally time for pro wrestlers to enjoy the feeling of having a union behind them for support and to make sure they are treated equally.

“I’m not here to say that I have it all figured out. However, I love the business of sports entertainment. I love the people, I love it. In that vain, they need, and I’ll say this, the WWE management is fantastic. They’ve done so much, it’s a real, it’s the NFL. The thing, when I was watching it at home, the WWE compares, and I’m going to speak about WWE because I’ve never been to AEW (and I hear they’re fantastic as well), they compare themselves to the NFL, the NBA. Those people have unions. That’s just the facts of it. The entertainment business in the United States of the America is the number one export. We are the United States of America. We are free thinking, we are free believing and we are free speaking. We lead the world in that system. When it comes to that system, that’s why we lead the world in entertainment. It’s open thought. Whatever the slang is for it, it’s a real thing.”

“And I really feel the art of sports entertainment is one of the most beautiful, artistic platforms of expression that we have. I believe that it’s going to be, if it isn’t already, the future of American programming. It’s lasted longer than anything. We have AEW now, we have WWE, we have Reality of Wrestling. I was speaking to you yesterday about the Monday Night Wars. How exciting were the Monday Night Wars? I know I didn’t have a cell phone in my hand during the Monday Night Wars, I know I was tweeting, I know wasn’t on Instagram. I know my eyes were locked in and glued onto what was happening. And then you said the other day about WCW. And somebody had to go. I don’t want anybody to go. I want sports entertainment to be a pinnacle structure of programming for the United States of America for forever. Why would it not be? Why does one company, and I know they were battling for business and that was part of that generation. One of them had to go. But if it can be in a way where we’re all working together and we’re all evolving through television together, I think that’s the best way to utilize that business. I just do.”

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The idea of forming a pro wrestling union seems like a great idea, but it’s also not a perfect solution. There is always the risk that some people won’t run union shows and then those union wrestlers wouldn’t be able to wrestle at those events. It could be complicated and take some sorting out, but the SAG-AFTRA is very interested in considering any pro wrestler a part of their union. This is a charge that Zelina Vega was very much behind at the time of her WWE release.

What’s your take on pro wrestlers forming a union? Sound off in the comments!

Thanks to Wrestling Inc for the quote