Andrew Ravens
Kevin Nash is echoing calls for the unionization of professional wrestlers following reports that TKO Group Holdings has been asking main-event level talent in WWE to accept pay cuts of up to 50 percent.
On the Kliq This podcast, Nash made a valid point about the gap between what is being asked of wrestlers and what TKO’s own executives are receiving
“This could be one of those times where this whole 1099 thing finally just, you know, it’s not. Bring the folders out. Bring them all out,” Nash said, invoking the spirit of former Governor and wrestler Jesse Ventura’s past efforts to organize talent.
He drew a direct difference between the financial demands being placed on wrestlers and the compensation increases recently awarded to TKO leadership.
WWE President Nick Khan recently had his contract extended with a significant increase in salary, bonuses, and stock awards — a fact Nash referenced. “You can’t have it both ways,” Nash said. “You can’t play Endeavor at the top with the 300% increases and 1099 the dock workers. If they’re going to play by those rules, let the boys play by the same rules.”
Nash went further by proposing a path forward, pointing to SAG-AFTRA as a model that wrestling talent could realistically pursue, given how closely the production of modern pro wrestling resembles scripted television and film industries that Endeavor Group Holdings already operates within.
“Go through the Screen Actors Guild. They’ll be more than happy to take their cut of your money. It won’t be 50%, but it’ll change the ball game,” Nash said. “Take one of the programs that’s written down, and you tell me that that program isn’t more heavily written and more produced than Curb Your Enthusiasm was when all those actors got SAG paid.”
