E21: Wrestling is Work Part 4 - Vince McMahon: Union Buster
The labour history of wrestling concludes with the rise and fall of Vince McMahon, and the reason wrestlers never unionized... in the USA at least.
Sources and Further Reading
Grant v. World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., No. 3:24-cv-00090 (D. Conn. Jan. 25, 2024). https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/WWE_complaint.pdf
Hornbaker, T. (2007). National Wrestling Alliance: The Untold Story of the monopoly that strangled pro wrestling. ECW Press.
Langmead, J. (2024). Ballyhoo!: The roughhousers, con artists, and wildmen who invented pro wrestling. Independently published.
McClean, R. (2019, February 13). WWE superstars’ salaries and wages 'revealed' with John Cena trailing Roman Reigns. Mirror. https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/wrestling/wwe-superstars-salaries-wages-cena-14069375
Meltzer, D. (2024, February 19). Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Oun, A. (2023, April 7). The horrific true story about Vince McMahon and Ashley Massaro. FandomWire. https://fandomwire.com/the-horrific-true-story-about-vince-mcmahon-and-ashley-massaro/
Powell, D. (2020, November 23). Wrestlers have always wanted a union. Why don’t they have one? Organizing Work. https://organizing.work/2020/11/wrestlers-have-always-wanted-a-union-why-dont-they-have-one/
Riesman, A. J. (2023). Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the unmaking of America. Atria Books.
Stern, K. (2024). DragonKingKarl’s pioneer era pro wrestling omnibus: The Bible of the pioneer era of pro wrestling. When It Was Cool.
Todd, J. (1990). The origins of weight training inside the American university. Iron Game History: The Journal of Physical Culture, 1(2), 4–11. https://journalofphysicalculture.org/
Wilson, J., & Johnson, W. (2003). Chokehold: Pro wrestling’s real mayhem outside the ring. Xlibris.