Eric Bischoff weighed in on the long-standing debate over WWE’s classification of its wrestlers as independent contractors, a topic recently highlighted by former WWE talent David Otunga. Speaking on 83 Weeks, Bischoff confirmed that this has been a significant legal risk for decades.
“Yeah, I remember. Yes, because it’s a vulnerability. I mean, we looked at this at Turner Broadcasting because it’s sketchy. Not sketchy isn’t the right word. It’s fraught with potential issues,” Bischoff said.
A ‘Skeleton in the Closet’
Bischoff, who was an employee at Turner Broadcasting while managing WCW’s talent contracts, recalled his reaction when WWE went public for the first time.
“I remember when I heard that WWE was going public… the first thing I did was jump back into the independent contractor status… because that’s like the one big thing that if anybody ever penetrated the independent contractor defense, it would become a major vulnerability, because some of the fines associated with… if an independent contractor sue me… and the jury found for them, I would owe them back pay, back taxes there. There’d be a whole lot of expense,” he explained. “So it’s, it’s always been there. It’s always been one of those internal issues where, at least when I was involved as an executive, I was always kind of a skeleton in the closet that may actually come to life”.
Too Big to Challenge?
Despite the recent controversy surrounding Ridge Holland’s release, Bischoff does not believe the independent contractor status will be successfully challenged in court.
“I don’t think so, because it’s going to be a massive legal battle. It’s something you’d have to be really financially well-off to afford to challenge this. You have to really be invested in it, and it’s risky. There’s a lot of reasons why there’s a lot of defense for it too. We’ve talked about some of the vulnerabilities, but there’s also a defense for it. So either way, it’s going to be a long, drawn-out, incredibly expensive exploration. I just don’t see anybody have any appetite to do it.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit 83 Weeks with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
