WWE: How can we show our support as wrestling fans after firings?

What would a path to redemption for WWE look like or is that out of the question at this point?

Bruce: This company has shown time and time they care more about money than they do people. Until they show otherwise in a consistent manner over several years, I have more faith that our country will pass the Green New Deal than I do the WWE will actually change (hint: I’m very, very pessimistic).

Patches: WWE shows their true colors just about every time people start to forget how terrible they are. This is just who they are, and it would take a drastic management change and months or years of visible change and results to alter that perception. In the meantime, they will continue to operate as a capitalist dictatorship led by Vince McMahon.

Bryan: A path to redemption for WWE, in my mind, is definitely a possibility — it’s very hard to convince me that any person or company is beyond repair. But it would take a complete culture change from the top down to even begin to set things right. The mindset of Vince McMahon is incredibly immoral, because he values profits and stockholder happiness over the talent that makes his product possible.

Of course he has a responsibility to shareholders as the head of a publicly-traded company, but that should not make the workers disposable cogs in the midst of a global crisis. And judging by the amount of guests on Talk is Jericho who spill the beans about the inner workings of the company, it’s a long-standing issue. Perhaps when Vince is no longer involved with the company, things may change for the better, but who knows when that will be?

Chris: If history has taught us anything, it’s that change seldom happens from the top down; it often comes when pressure is applied from the outside. Truth is, WWE could undertake a number of measures to win back the goodwill of the fans — it could hire everyone they fired back, for example — but, as great as that would be, most fans would still see it as a naked PR move. After all, what would stop the company from doing something else scummy in the future without any checks or balances?

At the end of the day, WWE is a company that aims to make as much money as possible, just like any other company. But in the midst of all of its money-making, it and the people who run it have to display, at the very least, some level of decency if they want to attract disillusioned fans. It would be great if WWE’s small heart grew three sizes on its own one day, but that will also likely come from a chorus of people challenging them.

Erik: Even though they have not and likely will never lose my business, I would be much more proud of my fandom if WWE really stepped up its philanthropy – especially within the confines of their own company, first.  I don’t want to see them fund a soup kitchen, I want to see them give benefits to the wrestlers that put their bodies and even lives on the line several times per week for the betterment of the evil empire.

If they began taking better care of their “independent contractors” – almost to the point of letting them form a union or making enough concessions that their contractors no longer need to entertain the notion of any union – then I think they will start to win back a great deal of their fans.  Professional wrestling fans are a passionate, opinionated bunch that LOVE their performers – take care of the performers, regain positive faith within the community.

Samantha: I honestly don’t know. WWE isn’t going away anytime soon. As long as Vince McMahon is around, nothing will change. We might get something along the lines of “we’re going to listen to the fans” and then they immediately go back to doing what they do.

Shane is reportedly next in line to run the company. Can he finally make the changes that should’ve been made decades ago? I want to say I’m hopeful, but he’s a McMahon. I do think that it would be more likely with Shane in charge versus his sister or brother-in-law. Without a union in place, it’s probably not likely that anything will truly and meaningfully change.

Thank you to everyone that participated in this discussion.