What's A Fair Wage?

In what can only be described as a potentially huge story that could change the wrestling business in Mexico, the Tijuana Box y Lucha Commission (the commission that governs mixed martial arts, boxing, and professional wrestling, similar to other state and provincial athletic commissions) is considering instituting a minimum wage for professional wrestling in that area.

In order to prevent unfair payment of talent the commission is considering putting in place a policy that would force promoters to pay all the talent 20% of the gate. Therefore, if a house draws $50,000 then $10,000 will be paid out to the roster who competed that night.

For all their faults, WWE is a great place to work. The days of talent not being paid fairly is arguably a thing of the past. With the company doing well and opening up other revenue streams with increased merchandise, video games, and DVD sales, even a lower tier WWE worker is making well into the six-figures.

But then there's indy wrestling.

Instituting a policy that could take effect in Tijuana might be impossible to do in a wrestling territory such as Ontario, Michigan, or Pennsylvania. For one, there is no commission that takes care of issues relating to professional wrestling in most states or provinces. Secondly, the economics of independent wrestling is much different when dealing with Mexico. Mexico may have their two big promotions with CMLL and AAA, but talent from those two companies are able to take outside bookings.

Thus, by having stars such as Mistico regularly appear for other companies more money is being made promoting wrestling on a local level. It is not uncommon for a house to draw between $30-$50,000 in Mexico even if the promotion running is not CMLL or AAA.

Using Ontario indy wrestling as an example, there is hardly ever a situation where any indy promotion in this neck of the woods would draw that much money. I can only imagine if Ontario instituted a 20% gate policy what would happen. I can just hear some workers going, "what's 20% of $80 divided by 17 wrestlers?" And let's not even mention how many times the gate money has "mysteriously gone missing" or my favorite, the promoter ran out the back door during intermission with all the money.

Another question to ask is who's fault is it if a show doesn't draw? Do you blame the wrestlers you booked or the main event that didn't sell tickets? Or do you blame a promoter who didn't properly promote their event. With so much of the same talent being used everywhere I hardly think it's an excuse to blame the talent. If show A does well using the same guys as show B, wouldn't both shows draw around the same money?

I totally understand the thinking that many indy guys should be lucky to get booked and if they really love wrestling then what does it matter if they get paid. Unfortunately, a wrestlers life is often riddled with debt. Paying for training is incredibly expensive for some people. Add to that gym memberships, tanning, supplements, ring gear, and gassing up your car to make the trip to your booking, you have a rough life for most.

So if a minimum wage is the way to go, then how much should it be? I really don't know, is $50 reasonable? $20? $100? What a minimum wage does is eliminate wrestling promoters who don't have the funds to do a show. If a promoter knows ahead of time that they need $800 in their back pocket even if there are no tickets sold then one would think this would motivate them to promote their shows.

Unfortunately, with no commission to regulate payoffs, this might be an impossible task.

If you are an indy wrestler or someone closely associated with indy wrestling, I encourage you to comment along with all the regular O-sters.

Share |