Greg Hamilton has no problem with WWE and UFC cashing in during the TKO era, especially because he knows how strict things used to be behind the scenes.
While speaking to Forbes’ Alfred Konuwa, the former WWE ring announcer talked about WWE and UFC under the TKO umbrella. Sponsorships have become a bigger part of both products, from logos on the mat to branding being worked into broadcasts. Some fans have pushed back on that, but Hamilton sees another side of it. Hamilton said WWE and UFC are clearly going to take the money when it is there.
“It’s no secret that [WWE and UFC] are going to take sponsorship money any which way they can.”
Hamilton said the logos and sponsorships do not really bother him. He then explained why, because during his time in WWE, talent had very little freedom when it came to outside money or even basic social media activity.
“But I don’t mind the logos on the mat and everything. And the one thing I do like about this is that—you’ve got to understand, too—during my time [in WWE], we weren’t allowed to do anything. I had to get off of Cameo even. I got called into talent relations for tagging a restaurant once and I paid for the meal. I was like, ‘Man, I love this place.’ I tagged the restaurant [on social media], walk in the arena and a referee’s like, ‘Talent relations wants to see you.’”
That is when Hamilton said WWE questioned him over something as simple as tagging a restaurant he liked. Hamilton’s answer was exactly what anyone would expect.
“They asked, ‘Why are you tagging restaurants?’ I said, ‘Because it was really good?’”
Hamilton also brought up Zelina Vega being forced off Twitch during that era, using it as another example of how locked down things were for WWE talent at the time. That is why he sees the upside in today’s sponsorship-heavy TKO world. To him, it gives performers a better chance to make extra money instead of being shut down for everything.
“And you remember Zelina Vega had to get off of Twitch. My point to all that is this TKO era is also allowing people to make extra money through these sponsorships and that I love for them. So that’s the upside to it. The logos and the matches stuff don’t really bother me.”
Hamilton’s story paints a pretty wild picture of how tight WWE’s rules once were. Getting called into talent relations for tagging a restaurant is the kind of thing that sounds ridiculous now, especially when WWE and UFC are both loaded with sponsors under TKO.
What do you think about Greg Hamilton’s story? Do you think WWE was way too strict back then, or is TKO going too far with sponsorships now? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section below.
