FS1 Interviewer Is Shocked at How WWE Treats Their Wrestlers

Bayley was interviewed on the FS1 show, “Fair Game” and it was a standard, mainstream interview until the interviewer asked her what the first thing fans would be surprised to know about life on the road.

Bayley talked about how wrestlers have to pay for their own rental cars and drive themselves on long trips around the country, which seemed to shock the interviewer, who correctly pointed out that WWE makes “a lot of money off you guys” but doesn’t even provide them with transportation. (Wrestlers also having to pay for their own hotel rooms wasn’t mentioned.) FOX, of course, just paid WWE $1 billion in a deal to air SmackDown on the network.

The interviewer then joked that she should renegotiate WWE wrestlers’ collective bargaining agreement, incorrectly assuming that the wrestlers actually have a union like players in most major sports. In fact, as John Oliver pointed out to mainstream audiences in a segment on his HBO show earlier this year, WWE doesn’t even classify their wrestlers as “employees,” instead calling them “independent contractors,” thus not being legally required to give them various worker benefits (like health insurance).

The interviewer, Kristine Leahy, tweeted that she was “shocked!! to hear this!” Interestingly, the video has now been deleted. It’s obviously something that WWE does not want their wrestlers to talk about.

Shocked!! To hear this! Happy to help with the CBA negotiation anytime! https://t.co/aCYJd10z6q

— Kristine Leahy (@KristineLeahy) July 12, 2019

A transcript is below. (via Cageside Seats)

Interviewer: What’s the first thing fans would be surprised to know about life on the road?

Bayley: It’s not pretty. It’s hard. The hardest part is the drives afterward, four hour drives, five hour drives. Sometimes it’s in the sketchiest towns when there’s literally nothing and you’re afraid you might run out of gas, which does happen. It’s gotten very close where I have to take the foot off the pedal.

Interviewer: You’re driving yourself?

Bayley: Oh yeah, we drive ourselves.

Interviewer: You don’t have, like, a driver?

Bayley: No!

Interviewer: What?!

Bayley: We drive ourselves, we get our own rental cars, so we drive ourself…

Interviewer: You get a rental car?

Bayley: Yes, how do you expect us to get around to these towns? And entertain our people?

Interviewer: I don’t know, you’re superstars! I feel like after the show there’s like, “here’s your driver, get in, you’ve had a hard day of work, we’ll drive you, with a full tank of gas…”

Bayley: Well, no. We do it five days a week, so they can’t do that for 30 Superstars five days a week.

Interviewer: I don’t know, I think they make a lot of money off you guys.

Bayley: I think so too, but you know. They take care of us for most things…

Interviewer: Do you want me to negotiate you guys’ new CBA [collective bargaining agreement]? Do you have a CBA?

Bayley: No, but…

Interviewer: Let’s make one.

Bayley: You know what – things like this, they work around it. But it’s fun though…

Interviewer: Ok.

Bayley: It does become fun because you get to connect with whoever you travel with, and there’s memories you won’t have with anybody else and it becomes like a real family sisterhood or brotherhood.