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WHAT THE WRITER'S STRIKE MEANS FOR WWE, AEW & ALL OF PRO WRESTLING

By Mike Johnson on 2023-05-02 10:59:00

As of midnight tonight, the Writer's Guild of America has officially gone on strike, shutting down television and film productions until the two sides (The WGA labor union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) can come to an agreement on a new contract.

Since that strike was announced, PWInsider.com has been beseiged with emails asking what this means for WWE, AEW, etc.

In the short-term, it means nothing.  WWE and AEW are non-union productions, so even though WWE employs writers for Raw, Smackdown, NXT, etc., their live events would not be encumbered or halted by the strike. 

AEW doesn't even use writers, so they too are in zero danger of being shut down because of the strike.  So, if you were concerned about your pro wrestling, don't be.

If this strike proves to be a lengthy one, however, it could be a positive for professional wrestling.  It's entirely possible that NBCU or Discovery or another broadcast company, needing original programming, turns to WWE, AEW, Impact, whoever seeking their help in filling that void.  We aren't there yet, but it's certainly a possibility for down the line. 

Most traditional TV series begin launching their writer's rooms in May and June so they can get shows produced for the following fall.  If the strike is still going on by then, it could impact traditional TV and cable programming, with the exception of reality TV, which doesn't fall under the same parameters.  It's always possible at that point that pro wrestling is called upon to assist.  We will see if things get that dire.

The last WGA strike was 2007/2008, lasting 14 weeks.

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