Contract disputes are in the news, with the recent reports of names like Rey Fenix, Miro, and others more or less put on ice with All Elite Wrestling, but it’s nothing new. There have been disputes between talent and promoters as long as there has been a pro wrestling business. So, it’s not surprising that WWE has a contract dispute of its own among the rumor mill online.
PWinsider’s Mike Johnson, the most accurate reporter in the industry, reported that WWE brass had plans for Alexa Bliss to return to the company after she was on hiatus for the past two years since she gave birth in late-2023. According to those reports, Bliss was scheduled to return on an edition of Raw earlier this month to align herself with the Wyatts, a callback to her time alongside Bray when he portrayed The Fiend persona a few years ago. If recycling her role in a Wyatt angle would be the best use of Bliss after a few years away is a different discussion for a different time since those plans were scrapped.
Reportedly, Bliss’ representative contracted WWE ahead of her slated return, requesting a new contract. WWE management declined that notion, considering that her prior deal was still in place and they wanted her to come back to the organization under the original agreement. As of this writing, it’s unclear if her contract was frozen when she was on hiatus to give birth so it’s possible that she still has at least a few more years on that original contract. If that’s the case, Bliss would have a minimum of two years left on that deal so it could be problematic if she refuses to work under that agreement.
On one hand, it’s understandable that Alexa Bliss, who initially inked a WWE development contract in 2013, would want to try to get a new deal to return, as the bottom line would be an increase in the among of cash she would get paid to be on the WWE roster. It’s not exactly an unreasonable request, as a lot has happened within the landscape of the TKO corporation within the past two years since Bliss stepped foot in a WWE ring. Of course, there was the WWE/UFC merger and the TKO stock that was launched in association with it. The Rock, who joined the WWE board as a part of the merger, signed a new deal last month that granted him a staggering $41 million worth of TKO stock. Vince McMahon, the emperor of sports entertainment for decades, was exiled in disgrace after sexual misconduct revelations made headlines on several media outlets. Furthermore, the mega Netflix deal worth $5 billion brought Monday night Raw to the streaming platform for at least the next decade.
As we know, the Netflix deal truly globalizes the product, and as the corporation expands with live events in foreign countries, it’s a continued increase in revenue for the publicly-traded organization. Alexa Bliss wants her share of that cash.
Essentially, this scenario has happened in other sports when someone performs beyond their contract. The problem is, Bliss hasn’t exceeded her contract in either revenue or performance. In fact, it’s quite the opposite, she hasn’t been in the game, and thus doesn’t really have the leverage to look for an increase in pay.
Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand where she’s coming from, the company is in a different position than when she left, and it’s also understandable why a talent looks to maximize their earning, a wrestler only has so many years of major earnings and injuries can cut a career short at any time. There aren’t any retirement or pension plans in sports entertainment. Of course, those dynamics because even more emphasized when it’s taken into account that Bliss now has a kid to consider as far as financial stability for her family. It might be something as simple as Bliss wants a specific number for her to go back on the road with WWE or she’d rather stay home with her family.
You can’t blame her for that, but at the same time, from strictly a legal perspective, WWE brass has the ability to enforce the terms of the contract. It’s somewhat similar to the Rey Fenix situation with Tony Khan, it might seem petty that Tony won’t release him, and he won’t book him either so there’s no reason to keep him under a deal, but he has the legal right to do so. If WWE management doesn’t want to renegotiate Bliss’ agreement than they have the legal right to keep her to the terms of the initial deal.
Bliss is a star within the organization, and while the association with the failed stint alongside The Fiend didn’t help her star power, there’s no doubt that she would continue to be an asset if she returns to the company. That being said, she’s not really in a position to make demands, either. She hasn’t been on WWE television for more than two years so naturally her star power will diminish to some degree, and in some ways, it’s out of sight, out of mind, especially because of how much the landscape of the company has changed within that time. Along with that, the women’s division is arguably the most consistent quality aspect of WWE programming, and that’s without Bliss in the mix so it’s not like she’s a necessary part of the division for the female talent to be successful. Granted, everyone is replaceable and expendable, that’s the harsh nature of the industry, but the point being, Bliss doesn’t have the numbers to make a case for an increase in pay. Has Bliss sold a lot of merchandise in the past two years? Has she been featured in viral social media clips? By what metric should Bliss get a raise in her salary?
Please don’t misunderstand me, I think a talent should try to get as much money as they can, that’s the entire point of the business, but the other side of the coin explains why it might be an ill-advised strategy to simple refuse to show up to perform on the shows without a fresh contract, particularly when the initial contract is still a legal agreement. The numbers simply aren’t in her favor.
Bliss has spent her entire career in the WWE system, and even if a release is eventually worked out, there’s no guarantee that she will find success outside of the organization that her name was synonymous with for the past decade. Mercedes Mone overvalued herself when she walked out of WWE a few years ago and has struggled for the majority of her stint in All Elite Wrestling. Make no mistake, Mercedes is a very talented performer, but she thought she was a bigger star than she actually was, and faced a harsh reality check when her promos, as well as some of her matches were panned last year.
At 33, Bliss is in the prime of her career so it would be a shame if she was more or less frozen during a contract dispute. Again, she doesn’t really have a case to play hard ball, the women’s division has done very well without her, and it’s possible that WWE would opt to have her sit out the duration of the rest of her current contract, which would completely diminish her value on the free agent market when she could finally explore other options in the industry.
My two cents on the matter would be for Bliss to finish up her existing contract and then look for more cash after she’s re-established within the women’s division. That’s if she’s strictly looking to get paid more cash to do the job. If this is a situation where she doesn’t want to go on the road a few days a week away from her family, and would only be willing to do so if she gets a specific number than perhaps it would be better if she stepped away from the sport completely, at least for a few more years. The harsh reality is, the TKO corporation has the legal standing to enforce the original agreement so it’s doubtful that they will pay more simply because she doesn’t want to return to work without a new contract, especially because it could set a negative precedent for other talent in the future.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
