A rose by any other name is still a rose, and an independent contractor by any other name is still an independent contractor. Now, you might think that if someone was an 'independent contractor' then they would be free to work for whoever they liked when they liked. Not quite in this instance. Let me explain.... WWE wrestlers are classified by the company as 'independent contractors'. They don't pay their hotels or flight costs (within a normal United States context) and they don't provide them with health benefits, etc. They do, however, pay their salary, dictate who they wrestle and when, and book them in towns and cities across the world with no input from the wrestlers themselves (unless there is an issue with visas, injury, family issues, and so on). In 2008, Raven, Mike Sanders and Kanyon filed a lawsuit against the WWE claiming that they should have had these benefits, stating that they were employees and not 'independent contractors'. The WWE stood to lose millions of dollars to hundreds of wrestlers if the lawsuit was found in the favour of the three aforementioned wrestlers. Although it sounds ludicrous, the judge in the case found in favour of the WWE. This was one lawsuit that Vince couldn't stand to lose. Although common sense would say that he should have, he - and his company back account - can find themselves very fortunate that they didn't.
I am a teacher, but also write about all things wrestling. I have been writing/interviewing wrestling personalities for over 7 years for both the Wrestling Observer site, as well as The History Of WWE site.
