The Real Reason WWE May Be Kicked Out Of California

May 31st's Wrestling Observer had the scoop.

Meltzer outlined details of an "AB5" bill that had been passed in the California State Assembly just days earlier. Amongst other administrative details, it noted that should the law get the greenlight, "All people classified as employees would get labor protection, unemployment insurance, health care subsidies, paid parental leave, overtime pay, workmen’s comp and others. The bill classifies independent contractors as workers who are completely free of company control, doing work that isn’t a central part of the company’s business and has an independent business in that same industry... This would mean that if talent from these companies perform on shows in California, they would then be considered employees. The bill still has to pass the state Senate and be signed into law."

tl;dr - WWE and AEW, if they want to continue running events in California, need to start treating wrestlers as workers. Actual workers, not Cesaros.

Dave let the story linger low in the Observer, but he was bang on top of it with a rather succinct assessment of its potential impact. Calling it a "bill that could change the very face of pro wrestling contracts". And that's before other states potentially follow California's lead.

The state is theoretically too vast for WWE or AEW not to fall in line with the potential changes required to their current talent arrangements. All Elite Wrestling in particular could continue to further the narrative of them being the babyface promotion by doing it anyway, but the gentle prod here would make better use of Tony Khan's billions than a few more spooters going off behind Cody and Dustin Rhodes at Fight For The Fallen.

WWE, with some precedent, may be less keen to fall in line, when they can simply have the fight.

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