Jeff Jarrett is not a fan of WWE’s revised WWE ID direction, and he believes young wrestlers may be giving up way too much control for too little money.
While speaking on his My World podcast, Jarrett reacted to reports that WWE ID talent will no longer be allowed to use their independent wrestling names. Instead, those wrestlers will have to work under WWE-assigned names for future appearances. Jarrett questioned the whole setup, especially if the contracts only offer small weekly guarantees while requiring wrestlers to change the identity they have already built.
“It’s dealing with the entire—we’ll call it talent—not just development, but the entire talent development, from ID all the way to the main roster. And so you’re telling me they’re saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to pay you—because aren’t those deals basically a grand a week? So we’re going to pay you a grand a week less.’ Thank you, sir. Okay. So we’re going to pay you, you know, 500 bucks a week, whatever it is, but it’s not enough to eat on. Okay. Thank you, sir. All right, we’re going to pay you this, but you have to change your entire career.”
Jeff Jarrett said he had trouble understanding why someone would alter the entire direction of their career for what he described as very little money in today’s economy, comparing it to just a couple of tanks of gas.
“Yes. That’s where I just—when you were reading it off—I’m thinking, and Conrad’s going to hit me with something… am I hearing all this right? So we want you to change your entire trajectory of your career for, in this day and age, a couple tanks of gas.”
Jarrett then connected the situation to what he sees as a larger TKO-era business approach, arguing that WWE is positioning itself to control all the leverage from developmental talent to main-event names. He questioned why an independent wrestler would stop building a name they own just to promote an identity controlled by WWE.
“But I think it goes into the totality of, ‘Hey legend, hey main eventer, our economics have changed. We need you to take a pay cut. Hey folks, go to the negotiating table. If you don’t like this offer, get out.’ They have pivoted, and you’re the historian on UFC, but it feels like, again, this is just a very, very small trickle-down effect of how TKO is running their business from top to bottom—in that they are positioning themselves to have not most of the leverage, all of the leverage. Because I can’t think for the life of me why an independent guy says to himself, ‘I’m going to hand over the keys to my career to a brand name I don’t own, an IP that I don’t own, and I’m going to build that for 500 bucks a week.’ And I know that’s higher—I’m going to build that. Why don’t they just stay the course and build it and build it and build it?”
Jarrett argued that young wrestlers may be better off staying independent, working different markets, and building real value before signing anything that limits their brand.
“Best-case scenario—they go have a run in Mexico and establish a name. Go have a run in Mexico, establish a name, maybe have a run on the independent scene, maybe do a couple of different weekends—or longer than that—in the UK and build that name. And you know what? I’m going to kind of build myself up—and I won’t call it a bidding war—but I’m going to create value in this day and age where, and I’ve said it so many times, it didn’t exist before.”
Jarrett said talent have more control over their careers than ever before because of social media, which makes giving that control away even harder for him to understand. Jarrett stated that while the WWE ID system may work for some people, he believes others could be limiting themselves by accepting those terms too early.
“You have social media. You really can control your career. You just don’t have to worry about a headlock takeover—although that one last night—but it’s about creating the demand, Conrad. I’m sitting here thinking to myself as I’m saying all this—talent has more say in their individual careers than they ever have, but yet they’re going to throw the keys to WWE because ‘I’ve got to get into the system,’ because that’s where Obi made his start. Good Lord. Less than 20 grand a year. Okay. It’s—it’s… and I look for people that want to take that risk. Remember that scenario we went through last week on the four different contracts and pay and the length and the term? I get it—it’s going to be for some people. But I think you’re short-changing yourself.”
This comes after BodySlam.net reported that independent wrestlers signed to WWE ID contracts will no longer be able to use their indie names. Aricia Demia is now Anya Rune, Notorious Mimi is using Sloane Jacobs, Starboy Charlie is Chazz Starboy Hall, Jariel Rivera is Santi Rivera, Jimmy House is CJ Valor, and Mike Cunningham is Max Abrams.
WWE may see the move as a way to create cleaner branding across WWE ID, EVOLVE, and future developmental programming. Jarrett, however, sees it as a warning sign for younger wrestlers who may be giving up ownership of their names before they have built enough leverage.
The WWE ID program may give indie wrestlers a path into the system, but Jarrett believes that path could come at a real cost. For him, the issue is not just the name change — it is about who controls the brand, the future, and the value once that wrestler starts building momentum.
Do you agree with Jeff Jarrett that WWE ID talent may be short-changing themselves by giving up their indie names? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.
