Several authorities have brought up the potential advantages that forming a union could provide; however, professional wrestler Rob Van Dam has expressed his opposition to the idea of establishing a union within the world of professional wrestling.
In a recent episode of his “1 Of A Kind” podcast, the celebrated WWE Hall of Famer discussed his viewpoint on why he thinks a union wouldn’t necessarily benefit talents associated. He expressed as follows:
“Admittedly, I wouldn’t quite claim an outright dislike for unions. Mainly, when I engage in conversations around unions, it relates to my sphere of work, my industry, where I’ve had a career spanning roughly 35 years. From my perspective, a union will not gel well with the professional wrestling landscape. I’ve constantly found it hard to comprehend this concept, even now. Hence, I can safely say that I’m not a fan, especially when wrestlers voice their desire for a union, I find myself unable to grasp the reason behind it. Therefore, it’s safe to assert that I don’t stand with a pro-union stance.”
Van Dam further argued that the singular nature of wrestling as an entertainment form makes it ill-suited for comparison with acting unions or the like. He further elaborated:
“Professional wrestling is a one of a kind phenomenon. You have to consider how many individuals in the entire population will end up as professional wrestlers. The number will be pitifully small. Taking into account the already small size of the professional wrestling industry, attempting to impose requirements on it seems unnecessary and misguided. It appears the real aim is to impose restrictions on the single dominating company.”
Jesse Ventura had made an attempt at setting up a union back in the 1980s. However, his efforts were stymied when Hulk Hogan disclosed the plan to Vince McMahon, leading to Ventura’s dismissal from the World Wrestling Federation.