WWE stars may want no-cut protection in their contracts, but it does not sound like the company is handing those clauses out.
There has been a lot of talk about whether top WWE talent can get language in their deals that stops the company from releasing them. That kind of clause would be a huge safety net, especially in the TKO era, where roster cuts can come fast. Now, the latest word makes it sound like those deals are either extremely rare or not really happening right now.
Sean Ross Sapp addressed the topic during a Fightful Q&A and said he has not heard of any current WWE contracts with no-cut language.
“Not that I’ve heard of. I know that there were some wrestlers that asked and inquired about it in recent years. They were either told that WWE/TKO didn’t offer those or they were told no, but assured they wouldn’t end up getting cut. I don’t know of any that were told that and got cut, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”
It is also worth noting that in all our time speaking with people within WWE, from creative writers to upper management to staff around the company, Ringside News has never once heard this thrown around to us until Dave Meltzer brought it up. At the time, it stood out because “no-cut contract” was not something we had heard being discussed as common WWE deal language.
Meltzer previously claimed there may be one or two people in WWE with no-cut deals, but if those contracts exist, they are very rare.
“I believe that there may be one or two guys with no cut contracts in WWE, but it’s very, very few. And I know top guys who tried to get no cut contracts and they were told no, as they’re told, ‘But we’re never gonna cut you.’ But they still wouldn’t put it in writing. Most of the cuts are people in the middle of contracts. There may be one or two no-cut contracts but for 99 percent of the talent they can be cut at any time.”
That is the real issue. A company can tell a wrestler they are safe, but if it is not written into the contract, it does not mean much when cuts happen. David Otunga also broke down why fans may misunderstand what a no-cut contract really means. He said even when that kind of language exists, it may not protect someone the way people think.
“So, today I’m going to pull back the curtain and tell you why no-cut contracts don’t actually exist in the way you think they do. Even if you have a no-cut clause, it usually means that you can’t be cut without cause. But cause is a very broad term.”
Otunga said wrestlers may be better off trying to secure a big payout if they are released instead of trusting no-cut wording to save them.
“A no-cut contract is a nice piece of paper, but a kill fee—that’s the real insurance policy.”
So the rumor that WWE is offering no-cut contract clauses does not seem to have much behind it. Talent can ask, and some top names apparently have, but WWE/TKO does not appear eager to put that kind of guarantee in writing.
Do you think WWE should offer no-cut clauses to top talent, or should wrestlers push for bigger release payouts instead? Let us know what you think in the comments.