MVP says the most shocking thing about WWE contracts isn’t how long they last. It’s how little the company is actually committed to them. Looking back on his time in WWE, the former United States Champion claimed the contracts he signed were so one-sided that every lawyer he ever showed them to had the exact same reaction: they couldn’t believe anyone would agree to those terms.
Speaking on the Marking Out podcast, MVP said many wrestling fans don’t realize just how much leverage WWE holds once a performer signs on the dotted line.
“What people don’t understand about professional wrestling contracts, especially with the WWE when I was there, you can sign a… five-year contract.”
According to MVP, that’s where the imbalance begins. He described WWE’s agreements as overwhelmingly favoring the company, saying it didn’t fully sink in until legal professionals started reviewing the paperwork. The reactions, he said, were always the same.
“The way those contracts were structured, they were horribly, horribly one-sided. Notoriously one-sided. Every lawyer that I’ve ever shown my old WWE contracts to, they look at it like, ‘I could never let you sign this.’ They look at it like, ‘This is disgusting.'”
So why sign them? MVP says the answer was simple. For years, WWE was the only place capable of paying wrestlers life-changing money, leaving many performers feeling they had little choice but to accept whatever was put in front of them.
“When you’re the only game in town… the only place that can pay, that can make you rich… well, what are you going to do? You can’t say, ‘No, I’m not going to take that.’ You take what they give you.”
The part of the contract that still stands out to him most is what he describes as the 90-day release clause. MVP explained that while wrestlers are committed to WWE for the full length of their deals, the company can reportedly end the relationship whenever it wants, provided it pays the talent for another 90 days.
“You sign a five-year deal, you’re obligated to them for five years. At any point, they’re only obligated to you for 90 days… They can fire you whenever they want. They’re only obligated to pay you for 90 days.”
For MVP, that’s the biggest example of how differently the two sides are treated under the same agreement. From his perspective, WWE secures a long-term commitment from the wrestler while keeping the flexibility to walk away with relatively little notice, a structure he says explains why so many attorneys have reacted with disbelief after reading those contracts.
Do you agree with MVP’s assessment of WWE’s contract structure, or do you think those terms are simply part of doing business in professional wrestling? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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