Why WWE & AEW Wrestlers Are So Unhappy Right Now

Money. Fun. Fame. Crossover opportunity. Creative expression. All valid reasons to be pro wrestlers, all things pro wrestling might feel the need to restrict to keep talent on their toes.

MJF, Kota Ibushi, Sasha Banks, Naomi and - to a lesser extent right now - Roman Reigns have all found faults along the way and have been more open and/or brutally honest in their attempts to fix what they believe to be broken.

These wrestlers (and presumably many, many others) aren't just unhappy with their current lot because they know themselves to be worth more as people and products. It's because they know that the industry hasn't ever been more flushed with the opportunity to make their lives better. The business is sh*tting cash, there's television time and potentially lucrative exposure out the *ss for those that want it, and the pandemic has proven that the old schedule was more damaging to bodies than it was beneficial to bank statements. Who's benefitting most from all these increases? Not them, evidently.

Few wrestlers would likely consider themselves socialists, and even fewer could deny a thirst for great wealth. They've willingly entered a capitalist shark tank for a career and have kept circling in an aim to be the last one left alive. But the line between fair compensation and greed is an immensely fine one in pro wrestling, and more power to those willing to stress test it rather than those simply still just glad to be there. In the documentaries made of this period in the decades to come, it'll be those celebrated as heroes of such a competitive era.