8 Biggest Casualties Of The WWE Network
5. Royalty-Deprived Wrestlers
The WWE Network's existence has created a tricky situation when it comes to wrestlers' royalty payments, particularly those who worked for the company long before the service's creation. Raven and Buff Bagwell are two such performers, and the duo currently find themselves locked in a legal battle with the company over monies they believe they are owed.
Their argument is that WWE breached their contracts by not paying royalties for Network appearances, as talents are contractually entitled to receive money for "direct sales to consumers". Raven's WWE contract (dated June 2000) defines this as any footage on "video cassettes, videodiscs, CD-Rom, or other technology, including technology not yet created", with the Network falling into the final category, he reasons.
WWE countered this by saying that the streaming service isn't a physical product, and a Network subscription is merely a license to watch WWE material, so royalties aren't applicable.
Raven and Bagwell's status as "casualties" technically depends on the case's outcome, but if they're successful, and the court rules they have missed out on entitled royalties, it could open the floodgates for a swathes of similar lawsuits from other disgruntled ex-employees.