John Oliver Body Slams WWE Ahead of 'WrestleMania'

[Big Vic]

https://news.yahoo.com/john-oliver-body-slams-wwe-084133621.html

John Oliver put aside politics for Sunday night’s episode of Last Week Tonight, and focused on professional wrestling, or as he calls it, the “only good excuse to wear a onesie.” “That’s right babies, you’re not pulling it off,” Oliver said.

While it may come as a surprise, Oliver claims he is a fan of wrestling and the WWE, which he finds “generally entertaining.” He’s not alone: The WWE has a billion fans on social media and, as per Oliver, earned $930.2 million in revenue last year. WrestleMania, WWE’s flagship event, rakes in more viewers than baseball’s World Series.

While WWE is fun to watch, especially compared to every other show that isn’t “a guy exploding through a table,” Oliver says there is a very dark side to the franchise, including the “shockingly high” death rates of pro wrestlers. The figure is so high—even compared to NFL players—that Oliver jokes it’s like “test pilots who lied on their resumes” or “zookeepers who aren’t going to just let some f—ing baboon talk to them like that.” While Oliver doesn’t get into specifics about the early death rate for wrestlers, he does note that WWE founder and owner Vince McMahon doesn’t provide health insurance or worker’s compensation for the stars. That’s because, according to Oliver, the WWE wrestlers are independent contractors who have exclusive contracts with the WWE and can’t work for anyone else, but are not technically employees of the company.

As Oliver explains, it’s because “McMahon plays an a—hole on TV, but is also an a–hole in real life.” According to Oliver, when you take “independent contractors working in a monopolized industry largely free from meaningful oversight who are able to be fired at any time, you wind up with huge potential for unsafe conduct.” To back up the claim, Oliver showed interviews with former wrestlers who pushed themselves to work when they were sick or injured, because if they didn’t they would not be paid and could potentially be fired. According to Oliver, the WWE is now worse than the NFL when it comes to taking care of its athletes. “When you have lost the moral high ground to the f—ing NFL you are morally subterranean,“ Oliver said.

There might be hope, though. Wrestling fans have become increasingly vocal and they genuinely care about the wrestling stars. If fans want McMahon to take better care of his employees—or even recognize them as employees—WrestleMania is coming up and, Oliver pointed out that it could be a good place to fight for change. “The event is live, the crowd is miked, they won’t be able to cut the chants out,” Oliver said. And then to make sure his point was clear “in the preferred language of wrestling of fans,” Oliver played a WWE-style ad pressing for “all your favorite wrestlers” having access to retirement accounts, workers compensation and family and medical leave.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m8UQ4O7UiDs" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Sepholio]

I get the whole bit about Vince sucking ass for not giving people health insurance but I am just generally sick of people complaining about "insert sport here" being dangerous. No shit it's dangerous. No one is making these people do it. They could go be anything else in the world. But they like doing this, they like the money and the like the fame so it is what it is. Could the WWE be better? Sure. But no one is forcing anyone.

Same exact way I feel about concussions and football. You mean to tell me extremely large guys bashing their heads together at full speed gives them brain damage? REALLY? I would have never guessed!

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I agree that these guys and girls have a choice to not be wrestlers. But just because they happen to want to follow this career path doesn't excuse the shadiness of their employer.

[Evil Vito]

I love this because you can tell John Oliver is genuinely a fan and understands what wrestling is.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

lol I love the cuts to Vince McMahon getting beaten up or humiliated. Was rofling when the rock hit him with the garbage can lid.

At the end of the day, I already knew these things and nothing will change. But as far as entertainment goes, it was a great segment with mostly sound logic.

[Big Vic]

lol I love the cuts to Vince McMahon getting beaten up or humiliated. Was rofling when the rock hit him with the garbage can lid.

At the end of the day, I already knew these things and nothing will change. But as far as entertainment goes, it was a great segment with mostly sound logic.

The trashcan lid was pretty hilarious.

I think it could change I would expect a lot of roster cuts though if it does.

[slik]

I thought he did a nice job overall on this.

I read somewhere he and Mic Foley are good 'irl' friends too.

[#1-norm-fan]

Wait... By what metric does WrestleMania draw more viewers than The World Series? :wtf:

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">9/10 chance wrestling fans will only focus on the lame Roman Reigns joke and overlook the entire 20 minute excellent piece and it's very valid point about the long-term health of wrestlers. re: John Oliver <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WWE?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WWE</a></p>&mdash; Kenton (@Kenton_la) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kenton_la/status/1112591874051706880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Well, after a complete viewing, this is the absolute most truthful outside media piece I've seen on wrestling in over 40 years:<a href="https://t.co/CKsAnqbGUS">https://t.co/CKsAnqbGUS</a></p>&mdash; Jim Cornette (@TheJimCornette) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheJimCornette/status/1112700358101487617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Big Vic]

Wait... By what metric does WrestleMania draw more viewers than The World Series? :wtf:

Was it more viewers or more profitable? (at work, can't watch again)

[#1-norm-fan]

Just watched. That was fucking fantastic. And I’m usually not a big fan of John Oliver from a comedy standpoint. I lol’ed a few times though.

[#1-norm-fan]

Was it more viewers or more profitable? (at work, can't watch again)

After watching the video, he actually says it’s more profitable.

The article just quoted it wrong.

[Droford]

Bully Ray on busted open blaming wrestlers for signing the contracts in the first place.

"Learn how to read"

#bestheelinthebusiness

[Droford]

Was it more viewers or more profitable? (at work, can't watch again)

Most valuable sports brand. Which basically is more telling of how many people care about the world series (spoiler you probably don't unless it's your team in it) than how popular WM is.

[Droford]

Wait... By what metric does WrestleMania draw more viewers than The World Series? :wtf:

There's twice as many people at WM than at a game?

[KIRA]

The WWE are media whores and every news Outlet is talking about it I wonder if they'll acknowledge it probably not but it would be interesting.

[Droford]

#makethememployeesnottalent

[Jordan]

"WE WANT HEALTHCARE! CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP"

[Droford]

I swear there's a decent chance that the chants happen on Raw and SD tonight and after WM

[Big Vic]

#GiveDivasAChance #ToHaveHealthcare

[Droford]

"WE WANT HEALTHCARE! CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP"

That's just begging for an evil wrestling doctor to show up

[RP]

Wait... By what metric does WrestleMania draw more viewers than The World Series? :wtf:


World Series maybe, College Football playoffs??? Calling bullshit on that.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

The key with what Oliver here, is he came from a place of respect for the business while still being irreverent.

[slik]

That's just begging for an evil wrestling doctor to show up

https://i.imgur.com/rbr12k7.jpg

[DaveWadding]

I'm nitpicking here, but using a clip of Bret from Wrestling with Shadows and then being like "well obviously Bret feels that way since his brother died in the ring" even though the clip shown was filmed way before that was slightly out of context.

Other than that, a very good segment with lots of good points.

[KIRA]

Look here's the deal if everyone just turns off this show for the week you could do so much if you really need to watch watch it on the stream because they get no revenue from that and you can still get your fix.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Great episode. Glosses over the fact that most of the dead guys left for WCW and wrestled long after WWE career were over. Some did come back later for a light schedule or one off appearances.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">One hell of an employe-- err I mean independent conractor</p>&mdash; Kid Moe (@DaleNewstead) <a href="https://twitter.com/DaleNewstead/status/1112765135385321485?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WWE Invites John Oliver to WrestleMania to “Learn More About Our Company” - <a href="https://t.co/MxPALXXHAu">https://t.co/MxPALXXHAu</a> <a href="https://t.co/EaX9mQVb1z">pic.twitter.com/EaX9mQVb1z</a></p>&mdash; Pro Wrestling Sheet (@WrestlingSheet) <a href="https://twitter.com/WrestlingSheet/status/1112767456978849792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

lol that is so dumb

He will literally take whatever they do then use it to fillet them on his show.

[slik]

Their PR statement pretty much just re-iterated they love their performers, etc.

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">In addition to Michael Che &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/ColinJost?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ColinJost</a> in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal <a href="https://twitter.com/WrestleMania?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WrestleMania</a> will now feature <a href="https://twitter.com/BraunStrowman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BraunStrowman</a> vs. <a href="https://twitter.com/iamjohnoliver?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@iamjohnoliver</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RAWTonight?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RAWTonight</a></p>&mdash; WWE Creative Humor (@WWECreative_ish) <a href="https://twitter.com/WWECreative_ish/status/1112704001248763905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[KIRA]

I expect Vince McMahon's response to be a 20-minute unfunny segment where a guy dressed like John Oliver takes every finishing move known to man at the end of his rant.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

The thing is, the segment wasn't even that bad negativity wise.

Most platforms doing the same thing would shit all over wrestling as a whole. This actually put over wrestling and its performers... even Vince himself AS a performer. If anything, it's done WWE a favor like it did with the Saudi show. It makes them seem far more relevant than they actually are in the cultural zeitgeist.

[KIRA]

Sample rebuttal to their PR statement would be to reiterate the points that John Oliver talked about and press them to answer the questions.
Plus it's hard to argue when wrestlers themselves say the exact same thing.

[Big Vic]

WWE Invites John Oliver to WrestleMania to “Learn More About Our Company”

Don't do it Jon, look what they did to MGK

https://i.makeagif.com/media/8-29-2015/zrLCjS.gif

I expect Vince McMahon's response to be a 20-minute unfunny segment where a guy dressed like John Oliver takes every finishing move known to man at the end of his rant.

Would be funny if that guy gets injured and Vince doesn't pay his medical bills

[Supreme Olajuwon]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WWE Invites John Oliver to WrestleMania to “Learn More About Our Company” - <a href="https://t.co/MxPALXXHAu">https://t.co/MxPALXXHAu</a> <a href="https://t.co/EaX9mQVb1z">pic.twitter.com/EaX9mQVb1z</a></p>&mdash; Pro Wrestling Sheet (@WrestlingSheet) <a href="https://twitter.com/WrestlingSheet/status/1112767456978849792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Massive wrestling fan shits on WWE and gets free access to Wrestlemania. That’s a heady play.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Massive wrestling fan shits on WWE and gets free access to Wrestlemania. That’s a heady play.

Keep in mind how slutty WWE is when it comes to mainstream coverage. Yeah, he shits on their business practices. But he kept talking about how awesome wwe was.

And it's not like he brought anything new to light.

I'm sure there's a strong part of Vince who's pissed at being attacked, but the carny in him has to see this as an opportunity for publicity.

[Sepholio]

All publicity is good publicity etc

[Droford]

Jon Stewart with a chairshot from behind outta nowhere

[slik]

Wish Machine Gun Kelly got powerbombed again...really cool moment...WWE hasn't really had anything 'cool' like that probably since that

[Droford]

John Oliver vs Jon Stewart vs John Cena in a NYC Johns triple threat suppppper slam match

[slik]

Machine Gun Kelly special guest ref

[#1-norm-fan]

Wish Machine Gun Kelly got powerbombed again...really cool moment...WWE hasn't really had anything 'cool' like that probably since that

I remember he got up and walked off with the help of his crew like 10 seconds later. Lol

[RaginRonic]

The point that Oliver was trying to make is that WWE should be making it's money to protect the wrestler's health, not the wrestlers making money to protect the McMahon Family's health.

As in, it's not up to the roster to keep Vince alive until he turns 95. Vince's lifespan is supposed to terminate at something more normal. WWE should not be a museum to preserve Vince's past glories....in fact, WWE should just toss them all away and abandon him in entirety, as well as all his philosophies and ideas about life in general.

He's become as useless and worthless as Triple H was when The Ultimate Warrior stomped his locker room resistance out at WrestleMania XII, which I still find a funny hoot to laugh at(H's ego being given a swift kick in the ass).

=P

[xrodmuc316]

I don't typically like his takes, but this one is right on. There is zero reason why WWE can still get away with the independent contractor thing.

Then again, AEW is going to do the same thing to, albeit with a little more flexibility, so who knows.

[Jordan]

If they did change their policy on this in the future it would be a good way to squash out competition in the US.

[Droford]

https://i.redd.it/6fbflzrlorp21.jpg

[Emperor Smeat]

UFC has the same type of problem going on with the company making more money than ever but clinging to the old "independent contractor" system. It lets them pocket as much of the extra money as possible while avoiding having to deal with unions or follow certain labor laws regarding pensions and medical.

WWE has the bigger leverage of the two since they can be a lot more direct and heavy handed to anyone who takes issue with these problems. Doesn't matter if its a top star leading the push for change since WWE can quickly make that person irrelevant as a star in the company.

[Tom Guycott]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WWE Invites John Oliver to WrestleMania to “Learn More About Our Company” - <a href="https://t.co/MxPALXXHAu">https://t.co/MxPALXXHAu</a> <a href="https://t.co/EaX9mQVb1z">pic.twitter.com/EaX9mQVb1z</a></p>&mdash; Pro Wrestling Sheet (@WrestlingSheet) <a href="https://twitter.com/WrestlingSheet/status/1112767456978849792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 1, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

lol that is so dumb

He will literally take whatever they do then use it to fillet them on his show.

And, as we have learned from examining both shows, POM Wonderful apparently has better writers than WWE.

[Tom Guycott]

I don't typically like his takes, but this one is right on. There is zero reason why WWE can still get away with the independent contractor thing.

Then again, AEW is going to do the same thing to, albeit with a little more flexibility, so who knows.

If they did change their policy on this in the future it would be a good way to squash out competition in the US.

UFC has the same type of problem going on with the company making more money than ever but clinging to the old "independent contractor" system. It lets them pocket as much of the extra money as possible while avoiding having to deal with unions or follow certain labor laws regarding pensions and medical.

WWE has the bigger leverage of the two since they can be a lot more direct and heavy handed to anyone who takes issue with these problems. Doesn't matter if its a top star leading the push for change since WWE can quickly make that person irrelevant as a star in the company.

Not as shit-tier as the NCAA "student athlete" nonsense, but not by much.

[Evil Vito]

In all fairness, while WWE are rightly the focus of the healthcare discussion - I do hope people hold other companies to account as well.

Specifically AEW. Cody said as recently as October that a wrestlers union was way overdue. But then in late January after AEW had been announced, he reversed his position and said a union would kill the business.

I like Cody but that sure strikes me as a guy who changed his tune the second he got into management.

[Droford]

UFC has the same type of problem going on with the company making more money than ever but clinging to the old "independent contractor" system. It lets them pocket as much of the extra money as possible while avoiding having to deal with unions or follow certain labor laws regarding pensions and medical.

WWE has the bigger leverage of the two since they can be a lot more direct and heavy handed to anyone who takes issue with these problems. Doesn't matter if its a top star leading the push for change since WWE can quickly make that person irrelevant as a star in the company.

UFC has a better shot at keeping independent contractors since they really only need workers 3-4 times a year and most of the smaller time guys work 2nd jobs or run a small training gym something like that. It being a legitimate sport helps too