AEW News: Lots Of AEW Notes On Equal Pay, Contracts, Chris Jericho & More

Lots of updates on All Elite Wrestling after yesterday’s rally!

Over 24 hours later and the talk of the wrestling world continues to be All Elite Wrestling following their rally in Jacksonville to officially launch the promotion (watch the rally and/or check out the recap here).

One of the biggest stories coming out of yesterday is of course the signing of Chris Jericho, who was originally reported to be a founding father of the company when news of a new promotion on the way initially broke (if you don’t remember, see it here). According to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer, the multi-time WWE Champion was in talks with the WWE as recently as just prior to Wrestle Kingdom 13. However, much like Jericho stated during the rally, he is “all in with All Elite Wrestling” and was looking to be a part of something new.

Also during the rally, some pretty interesting statements were made by Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes and Chief Brand Officer Brandi Rhodes that a lot of fans have been wanting clarification on. Cody would discuss how important wins and losses will be in AEW, which Meltzer would also slightly address by saying the company will be marketing itself as more “sports-oriented”, likening the idea to something WWE Hall Of Famer Bill Watts employed in Mid-South Wrestling in the 1980’s.

As it pertains to talent contracts and how exclusive they will be, Cody would also address this by saying that Joey Janela will still be able to hold his annual Joey Janela’s Spring Break event. Additionally, Jericho will also have no issues putting on his next Jericho Cruise, which has already been announced (go here for more on that), but no other details were given.

Another noteworthy item from the rally was Brandi’s statement that there would be equal pay for the women in All Elite Wrestling, which in-turn led to a lot of people wanting more specifics on how that will work. Today, the ‘Chief Brandi Officer’ took to Twitter to clarify:

Equal pay means equal opportunity regardless of sex. It does not mean that everyone will be paid the exact same salary regardless of their position. It means the gender pay gap does not apply. An entry level woman won’t make less than an entry level man because of her gender.

— Brandi Rhodes (@TheBrandiRhodes) January 9, 2019

EA’s Take: There are still SO many details to be worked out with this company that it’s hard for me to formulate too much of an opinion on anything. It’s like playing Pin The Tail On The Donkey. Especially when it comes to things like contracts, how often the talent will work and who they can work with. The company isn’t even sure who they will be working with yet (that we know of). I do find the equal pay thing interesting though because to be honest, the term is a little deceiving. There will never truly be “equal pay” no matter your gender if you add in things like merchandise, position on the card, etc. I think a lot of people heard that and thought, “Britt Baker will get paid the same as Chris Jericho”. In the words of the late, great Gorilla Monsoon, “Will you stop…”.