John Oliver Reveals Shocking Details of How WWE Treats Its Wrestlers, Gets Invited to Wrestlemania

Ahead of WrestleMania 2019, the host of Last Week Tonight John Oliver took on the World Wrestling Entertainment, accusing it and its biollionaire owner Vince McMahon of being responsible for the trend of early deaths among wrestlers.

In a 20-minute segment on the show, Oliver dig deep into the world of WWE and pulled out some shocking and explosive information on how the wrestlers are treated by the company.

Calling McMahon a “billionaire on the broken backs of his non-employees”, Oliver said he has managed to shield himself from “responsibility of wrestlers’ welfare” for close to 40 years.

He called McMahon a “scary grandpa who looks like big, bumpy hotdog” and said, “The shocking thing about McMahon and his company is the extent to which he has shielded himself from responsibility for his wrestlers’ welfare.”

Last Week Tonight gave some glimpses into the contracts of the wrestlers working with WWE and some “astonishing clauses” came out.

Oliver first said that the WWE wrestlers are not technically McMahon’s employees despite having exclusive contracts with the company and are instead just “independent contractors”.

The more grave clauses showed that the wrestlers have no off-season and that WWE holds the right to terminate the wrestlers’ contracts if they are sidelined with an injury for as less as six weeks. The wrestlers also do not get any health insurance despite the abuse they take in the ring.

Another clause also states that the league can waive off responsibility for the injury or death of a wrestler even if it’s “caused by negligence of promoter”.

Oliver went on to describe that WWE has taken a couple of steps forward though with its “talent wellness program”, which includes “annual physical examinations”, something that he too has to undergo for the HBO show.

Oliver urged the fans who are attending the WrestleMania on Sunday to make their voices heard and make way for a better treatment of their star. He said, “Well, incredibly, there might be, because there’s one group that even McMahon occasionally seems to listen to, and that’s the fans.”

HOW WWE REACTED

WWE has completed refuted Oliver’s claims on the way its wrestlers are treated and said that the health of its wrestlers is of utmost importance to the company.

WWE, in its statement, invited Oliver to attend the WrestleMania and “learn more” about the company.

“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 statement continued. “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,” WWE said in its statement.