As one — or both — of my loyal readers might recall, I did a weekly column on pro wrestling for about seven years, before debuting this pop culture column, almost two years ago.
The wrestling column ran in the Sports section, but not without controversy. Some, both in and out of The Daily News, thought it would be a more appropriate fit for the Entertainment section.
Certainly, the predetermined outcomes of pro wrestling matches give them more in common with action movies than baseball games.
Still, not many actors have the athletic ability of World Wrestling Entertainment’s Oscar “Rey Misterio” Gutierrez.
Wrestling is an odd duck of an industry, lying somewhere between the sports and entertainment worlds.
However, wrestlers themselves have worked for decades within a more critical gray area.
WWE, the company that brings you “Raw” and “Smackdown” every week, announced at the end of last month’s quarterly report it was anticipating a lawsuit, filed by some former employees.
The lawsuit takes issue with WWE’s long-held contention that its pro wrestlers are independent contractors.
Independent contractors are not company employees, but rather, individuals hired to perform specific tasks.
That status keeps companies from being obligated to provide benefits, reimbursement for expenses and insurance for those workers.
In general, it makes sense. If you pay a guy to mow your lawn, and yours is just one of 20 his crew cuts each week, then he calls many of the shots.
He decides when to schedule your yard, how many (if any) helpers to employ, what equipment he’ll use and when he takes vacation.
However, to think of pro wrestlers working for WWE (and North American rival Total Nonstop Action) as independent contractors is even goofier than some of the skits that air on wrestling programs.
WWE tells its wrestlers when to be in each city, who they’ll wrestle, how long and how. WWE even tells its wrestlers what public appearances the wrestlers can make — on nights they have off from WWE shows.
Since the 2005 drug-fueled death of top wrestler Eddy Guerrero, WWE has even been drug-testing its performers and issuing fines and suspensions for wrestlers who fail.
Does that sound to you like a crew of guys who are calling their own shots?
Should a court rule the wrestlers to be actual employees, the economic impact to the wrestling companies who employ them could be devastating.
Add up the possibilities of back taxes for employees, insurance and retirement plans, travel costs (wrestlers pay their own transportation and hotel costs to most shows) and benefits packages for 100 wrestlers, and you’ll quickly find yourself in the seven figures, or more.
But, even if tighter budgets lead to mass firings, is that a bad thing? Because of its “neither fish nor fowl” status, unique among American entertainments, pro wrestling has escaped most of the glare of governmental intrusion and mainstream media probes.
It’s a business that uses up performers until they just can’t go anymore and then dumps them, with no pension, no prospects and not much of a future.
Better that, fewer of them remain employed, but with better prospects for life after wrestling. Most wrestlers aren’t financial planners or savvy investors.
And they’re definitely not independent contractors.
Scott E. Williams is an independent contractor as pop culture columnist for The Daily News. Find out how you can donate to his retirement fund, with an e-mail to scott.williams(at)galvnews.com. He will also accept canned foods, but please — no asparagus.
