Last Week Tonight: John Oliver tackles WWE

Lord TSC · 01-04-2019 3:55pm #1

So, every week John Oliver tackles a single issue and deep dives into it for 25 minutes.

Last nights was WWE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8UQ4O7UiDs

Not a massive amount that hardcore fans wouldn't be aware of, but still amazing to see mainstream media tackling it. The Piper bit was heartbreaking.

SlickRic · 01-04-2019 4:29pm

Watched it this morning.

Well worth a watch, and it helped that he himself is obviously a fan.

brianblaze · 01-04-2019 4:33pm

Saw it as well, great piece but not sure what he expects fans to chant/ have signs about on Sunday.

Also wonder if this is why Linda left Trumps small business cabinet over the weekend. Doubt it but interesting timing

Itssoeasy · 01-04-2019 4:39pm

It's gotten 1.1 million views already and it's not been up even a day. So it's getting a lot of eyes on it.

SureYWouldntYa · 01-04-2019 4:54pm

Itssoeasy wrote: »

It's gotten 1.1 million views already and it's not been up even a day. So it's getting a lot of eyes on it.

Is that more than normal? Those 20+ min vids that come up every week get serious views usually

I watch most of them myself and he didn’t go in on WWE nearly as harshly as most others he has, and I’m very surprised he didn’t pick on Linda and the Trump links, but he stuck to the topic which was WWE itself

I wonder if it will be picked up the other major news people, I thought the original CM Punk podcast with Colt might lead to something but it obviously never did

sirmanga · 01-04-2019 4:56pm

A lot of the stuff in Oliver's piece was nonsense. He claims the only group that Vince listens to is his fans. Give me a break. Oliver uses the fans booing Reigns as an example of the vocal fan base WWE have. He fails to mention that Vince ignored these boos and continues to push Reigns, as he did John Cena before him.

Also, I would like to see which wrestlers are included under Oliver's graph of wrestler deaths. After Ultimate Warrior died, a similar story of wrestler deaths was doing the rounds and they were including guys who died of cancer and in car crashes.

No doubt wrestling has a high death rate, but the figures and their source is important.

Another thing I found disingenuous about Oliver's segment was that he used old clips, some of them over twenty years old, to illustrate his point. Also, the clip he showed of Bret Hart was from a period of utter hatred from Bret towards Vince. There was no mention of Bret being on good terms with the company and going into the Hall of Fame this weekend.

brianblaze · 01-04-2019 5:10pm

sirmanga wrote: »

A lot of the stuff in Oliver's piece was nonsense. He claims the only group that Vince listens to is his fans. Give me a break. Oliver uses the fans booing Reigns as an example of the vocal fan base WWE have. He fails to mention that Vince ignored these boos and continues to push Reigns, as he did John Cena before him.

Also, I would like to see which wrestlers are included under Oliver's graph of wrestler deaths. After Ultimate Warrior died, a similar story of wrestler deaths was doing the rounds and they were including guys who died of cancer and in car crashes.

No doubt wrestling has a high death rate, but the figures and their source is important.

Another thing I found disingenuous about Oliver's segment was that he used old clips, some of them over twenty years old, to illustrate his point. Also, the clip he showed of Bret Hart was from a period of utter hatred from Bret towards Vince. There was no mention of Bret being on good terms with the company and going into the Hall of Fame this weekend.

That's not his graph, that's a study on deaths in sports, of all types and causes.

Wrestler death stories were covered in all media wrong the dark time when Umaga and Test etc died in a very close time period.

The rigours of the wwe lifestyle and the pressures they are on to perform puts them under a lot of pressures that could also serve to weaken immune systems and make them more susceptible for mental health issues too

sirmanga · 01-04-2019 5:54pm

brianblaze wrote: »

That's not his graph, that's a study on deaths in sports, of all types and causes.

Wrestler death stories were covered in all media wrong the dark time when Umaga and Test etc died in a very close time period.

The rigours of the wwe lifestyle and the pressures they are on to perform puts them under a lot of pressures that could also serve to weaken immune systems and make them more susceptible for mental health issues too

I know it's not his graph, but I would like to see which wrestlers were included. Also, Oliver didn't really go into the cause of deaths. Just an all encompassing "wrestlers die young and in high numbers" arguement.

brianblaze · 01-04-2019 5:58pm

sirmanga wrote: »

I know it's not his graph, but I would like to see which wrestlers were included. Also, Oliver didn't really go into the cause of deaths. Just an all encompassing "wrestlers die young and in high numbers" arguement.

Which is true and more than likely linked to their lifestyles and career choice

Graph was generated from ESPN's database in 2014

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/comparing-the-wwfs-death-rate-to-the-nfls-and-other-pro-leagues/

mcdaids69 · 01-04-2019 6:23pm

i watch john oliver every week and yes he is popular, gets 4million views on most of his youtube vids and add his viewership...he will bring a good few of his fans to watch on weekend the way he promoted the clips as a fan, so its good for vince but bad for what was said about deaths of wrestlers etc....when i saw it,it was what i knew all along so not a shock.i think to johns redit if hes a fan he probaly is high lighting it for the wrestlers to get better treatment.less tours better rotation of stars.roman reigns talked recent about how some lay off for month would be good for all wrestlers and i think john oliver is doing the same but using his platform

circadian · 01-04-2019 6:54pm

sirmanga wrote: »

I know it's not his graph, but I would like to see which wrestlers were included. Also, Oliver didn't really go into the cause of deaths. Just an all encompassing "wrestlers die young and in high numbers" arguement.

It's all fine and well nitpicking at the delivery of a complex subject in a 20 minute segment but the overall message being delivered is still on point. You can't argue that the dodgy "contractor" scenario and everything that it brings (lack of healthcare, no worker rights etc) is an important issue to raise.

These are people whose livelihood is dependent on their health and they provide a service for a multi billion dollar business that goes out of its way to to do the absolute bare minimum to look after it's employees.

Wrestling is highly entertaining, it's not something I've ever been a huge fan of but I sat up with mates to watch summer slam, wrestlemania etc and had a great time. The one thing that stands out to me is the work and athleticism these entertainers have, I truly admire that and believe they deserve to be treated much better than they are.

J. Marston · 01-04-2019 6:57pm

I can't tell if it's an April Fools or not (Fúck this stupid day when you're looking at news on the internet.) but PWInsider saying this is WWE's response to Oliver...

John Oliver is clearly a clever and humorous entertainer, however the subject matter covered in his WWE segment is no laughing matter.

Prior to airing, WWE responded to his producers refuting every point in his one-sided presentation. John Oliver simply ignored the facts.

The health and wellness of our performers is the single most important aspect of our business, and we have a comprehensive, longstanding Talent Wellness program.

We invite John Oliver to attend WrestleMania this Sunday to learn more about our company.

https://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.php?id=125306

HBO supposedly responded with this...

The show likes to let the segments speak for themselves and will not be available to comment on this.

CastorTroy · 01-04-2019 7:02pm

Have any wrestlers commented yet?

salmocab · 01-04-2019 7:06pm

sirmanga wrote: »

I know it's not his graph, but I would like to see which wrestlers were included. Also, Oliver didn't really go into the cause of deaths. Just an all encompassing "wrestlers die young and in high numbers" arguement.

Its a graph based on the age wrestlers die Versus non wrestlers, cause of deaths would be irrelevant. The non wrestlers would also include people hit by a tram

brianblaze · 01-04-2019 7:12pm

The only thing that would settle the independent contractor thing is a union or a collection of the bigger names banding together publcially to address the issue.

In fairness, they've gotten better at paying for rehab for former talent etc, but a situation like with PAC where he wants to quit and can't, even though he's essentially self employed, is ludicrous. I half expected an attention hungry attorney to take them to task on PAC's behalf about that, but as it's under an NDA, we'll probably not ever find out how he got free from his deal

Lord TSC · 01-04-2019 7:16pm

CastorTroy wrote: »

Have any wrestlers commented yet?

No WWE ones, but a lot of indy guys. Millage will vary on how much stock you put into their opinions.

https://twitter.com/TheJimCornette/status/1112700358101487617

https://twitter.com/theAdamPage/status/1112703819987775488

https://twitter.com/JoeyRyanOnline/status/1112755949465272320?s=19

https://twitter.com/londonfu/status/1112756799034134528?s=21

https://twitter.com/CMPunk/status/1112744424025583618

ERG89 · 01-04-2019 7:33pm

CastorTroy wrote:

Have any wrestlers commented yet?

WWE ones won't until they get the go ahead to by their employer or just get told what to say.
Tbf to him he didn't show Vince getting Trish to bark like a dog, the kiss my ass club, mocking bells palsy, having Undertaker jumped by essentially guys dressed up like terrorists or HHH molesting a dummy so the WWE clips could have been worse.
The fans won't bring the signs & if any do they got confiscated anyway as WWE don't listen to their audience that was the main factual error in the piece.

CastorTroy · 01-04-2019 7:59pm

I expect AEW to use this as an opportunity.

brianblaze · 01-04-2019 8:21pm

salmocab wrote: »

Its a graph based on the age wrestlers die Versus non wrestlers, cause of deaths would be irrelevant. The non wrestlers would also include people hit by a tram

It would also include wrestlers hit by a tram. The stats are from other sports, not just regular people. NFL, NBA, NHL etc. Considering the rash of suicides related to CTE in the NFL (around the same time as Umaga/ Test/ Cade dying) it's astonishing that the NFL doesn't spike higher

mcdaids69 · 01-04-2019 8:28pm

if they send out steph tonight to cover wat was said it will be uproar...they need triple H or someone like undertaker or roman (leaders in locker room).triple H can show at least that hes trying to change things since taking board role

PopePalpatine · 01-04-2019 8:30pm

CastorTroy wrote: »

I expect AEW to use this as an opportunity.

So, John Oliver as special guest referee for their first main event?

sky88 · 01-04-2019 10:18pm

CastorTroy wrote: »

I expect AEW to use this as an opportunity.

Well Cody said this so it won’t be a union.

https://www.ringsidenews.com/2019/01/25/cody-rhodes-says-a-wrestlers-union-would-destroy-the-business/

I agree with Cody somewhat but I have negative experience with unions myself so I would.

JP Liz V1 · 01-04-2019 10:55pm

J. Marston wrote: »

I can't tell if it's an April Fools or not (Fúck this stupid day when you're looking at news on the internet.) but PWInsider saying this is WWE's response to Oliver...

HBO supposedly responded with this...

Will John attend WM?

briany · 01-04-2019 11:03pm

I don't see anything ever really changing in wrestling. Firstly, Vince McMahon has been through several scandals already, so I'd say he, HHH and Steph would see how long the press lasts this time before even being seen to do anything. Vince McMahon has been accused of covering up sex abuse, murder (Jimmy Snuka's girlfriend), steroid abuse, tax fraud, as well as facilitating brain injury that led to murder suicide and overseeing the creative process that led to a wrestler plunging 70 feet to his death. All this and more. Yet his organisation remains not only massively profitable, but has enough of a clean image to court and promote various charities and social programs.

People need to understand that professional wrestling does not originate from the same tradition as sports do. It emerges from the carnival and the circus, and neither of those institutions are historically known for their above-board business practices. There's a whole culture in professional wrestling that needs to change, and as long as you have stupid kids willing to do back flips out of the ring in front of 20 people for no pay and a hockey chant, as long as you have that feeding the upper echelons of the business, I don't see anything ever truly improving.

SureYWouldntYa · 01-04-2019 11:22pm

briany wrote: »

People need to understand that professional wrestling does not originate from the same tradition as sports do. It emerges from the carnival and the circus, and neither of those institutions are historically known for their above-board business practices

It doesn't matter the history, why things were done the way they were done or any of that, if things are just accepted because that's the way they are when they're wrong then nothing good will ever be done again

Vince and Co may well bury their heads in the sand are ride out another storm, doesn't mean it can't and shouldn't be pointed out that it's bs and wrong

briany · 02-04-2019 12:08am

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

It doesn't matter the history, why things were done the way they were done or any of that, if things are just accepted because that's the way they are when they're wrong then nothing good will ever be done again

Vince and Co may well bury their heads in the sand are ride out another storm, doesn't mean it can't and shouldn't be pointed out that it's bs and wrong

It has been pointed out as bs and wrong many, many times. I think people point that's out and then congratulate themselves. Then, a little while later, people generally forget about it and Vince trucks on.

There'll probably never be a reason for the WWE to truly change if the WWE always has a steady stream of performers desperate for their Wrestlemania moment. It's a bottom-up problem in wrestling, imo. I don't think the impetus to change will ever come from WWE, but perhaps it could come from a competitor. Now that AEW has solid financial backing, maybe they can position themselves as a modern forward-thinking alternative in more ways than one...

Lithium93_ · 09-04-2019 4:52pm

So I found this on fightful.com, https://www.fightful.com/wrestling/wwe-can-afford-reclassify-talent-and-improve-worker-conditions, and WWE would be well able to reclassify all 215 contracted performers, and it'd only cost $28.5 million yearly. The $28.5 million is an aggressive estimate though.

The article does say this much.

That’s a price WWE is more than profitable enough to cover.

Against the Internal Revenue Service’s 10-point test to determine whether a worker is an employee or contractor, WWE wrestlers arguably are functioning more like employees on almost every count.

Last Week Tonight: John Oliver tackles WWE

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