Former WWE Superstar Ryback recently discussed Vince McMahon and WWE ‘barring’ Superstars from using third party sites as a revenue stream. You can check out what the full show at The Ryback Show podcast or via Patreon.

WWE’s recent crackdown on third party streaming platforms has been gaining a lot of traction, even in the mainstream. WWE has always been quick to refer to their ‘independent contractor’ status of their Superstars; however this recent move to choke Superstar’s earning potential on external services has called this into question once again.

“What they’re [WWE] doing? Obviously revenue is the name of the game” Ryback began on the podcast. “They have wh*red out these human bodies. We’ve talked about this before, they make money off of you all these other backend ways that you usually don’t get reciprocated for. Or, not reciprocated for nearly as well as you should be. Especially compared to other sporting agencies, entertainment agencies and things of that nature.”

Ryback would then discuss his beliefs as to why WWE would be looking to keep such a ‘stranglehold’ on the performers. “What they are doing? They don’t want mega stars. They don’t want people making a certain level of money where they’re comfortable leaving. Vince wants to keep every talent, male or female, working for them as long as humanly possible. As a business? Okay that’s fine. You want somebody working there as long as possible. The problem is? It’s all a** backwards how they treat people.”

“They do it by not paying them what they’re worth” Ryback continued. “First of all on the contracts, through the [actual] wrestling, and then on these other agencies [Cameo, Twitch etc] as they’re growing.”

Ryback would finish by mentioning Vince McMahon’s claims that the reason for the ‘crackdown’ is that it is potentially “hurting” the WWE brand. “They’re going to take control. Everything Vince put out is all bullsh*t as far as ‘damaging the brand.’ This is all money. So what he was trying to do? People are now making a lot of money doing these other things. And he’s [McMahon] trying to find a way to control it.”