AJ Styles recently appeared at an Indie wrestling event and fans have since been wondering how he and others are able to do so when they're under contract with WWE. Well, WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler has provided an explanation and it turns out that being an "independent contractor" leaves wrestlers free to work wherever they like...providing WWE is actually ok with that.
"When you sign a contract with WWE, it’s pretty much exclusive. However, WWE wrestlers are, technically tax-wise, considered independent contractors. In that sense, you are really truly, supposedly, work wherever you want to. But it’s just an understanding, and it’s in the contract, that WWE will basically keep you booked where you’re not available to do anything else. I think they call them ‘third-party appearances.’ That’s been a long-standing thing that if somebody else wants to book, say for instance AJ Styles, I’m sure what they did was call the office and made an offer. Then the office will look and see if it’s a viable thing; if AJ isn’t working that night.
"So say you have an independent show, and you call WWE, and you say you want John Cena. If he’s available, and they tell you what his fee would be; if you are still conscious, if you haven’t fainted, and you say you can pay that, they call John and tell him they have an offer for him and if he would accept it. And why you don’t see WWE superstars at these shows, the reasons are money, it’s prohibitive for a promoter to be able to pay these guys what WWE is asking. And usually when these shows happen are on the weekend, when WWE are running their shows. Or a day off; days off are few and far between. They relish a day off; they wouldn’t want to do a third-party appearance on their day off."
It's a fascinating insight into how WWE uses the talent working for them and explains why their Superstars don't spend half the week at WWE Live events and the other half at Indie shows. Should one of them decide to do that, though, it seems WWE must agree beforehand and get some sort of fee in return so, in reality, they're not really free to do what they like when they like!
So, it seems the moral of this story is to head to your local Indie show and hope WWE is feeling generous that night so you get an unexpected cameo from a WWE Superstar!