Konnan Talks Alleged Contract Tampering By WWE, WWE Hoarding Talent
Recently MLW accused WWE of tampering and even had their attorneys get into contact with WWE's attorneys. Konnan works for MLW and he was asked about the tampering allegations when he joined The Wrestling Inc Daily.
"I don't know what's going on. But WWE tampers with all talent," revealed Konnan. "With Roberto Garza or Angel Garza now, remember when he was in Impact? They were still sending him stuff even though he was under contract. 'When is it over? Can we see a copy of it?' They don't give a sh*t. They're ruthless and that's why they are who they are. I'm not knocking them but everybody does some tampering to some degree."
Konnan admits that he tampers but he never does it in a way that gets back to him as he covers his tracks. He also wonders what's really going to come of attorneys getting involved.
"When you've got that much money, are you really gonna go to court with these guys," Konnan asked of WWE before noting that CM Punk and Colt Cabana's friendship was torn apart thanks to a court trial.
MLW currently has a TV deal with BeIN Sports but that doesn't mean they aren't considering other options. Konnan was asked where he sees MLW on TV in 2020.
"From what Court has told me, he's negotiating to get a bigger deal but at the same time staying with BeIN because they've been such great partners. He understands, just like I understand, that right now it's big bank take little bank. AEW and WWE ? they can take anybody they want because they have the funds," said Konnan. "You've got to figure out a way to keep some of your top talent and the only way you're gonna do that is by getting bigger distribution and TV rights deals."
Konnan then revealed that MLW has had talks with both Amazon and Showtime about streaming or TV deals and landing either of those would help lock down top talent.
"[Court's] already got Fatu signed up for a while and that's a great get. Now you get a couple more pieces you can get under contract for a couple of more years and be able to pay them so they don't go anywhere else, now you've got a chance. Everyone that doesn't have TV has access to live streaming. It's very competitive now and there's a million promotions and also a million podcasts because it's DIY," stated Konnan.
He then pointed out that WWE wanted Cain Velasquez so they took him from AAA, even though he wasn't really under contract to them. He noted that there are wrestlers who just want money and there are others who want creative freedom so they can be happy.
"Look how many people are miserable at WWE and they aren't doing anything with them because WWE is signing everybody so they don't go anywhere else," said Konnan. "That inherently brings up two problems. No. 1 ? you can't sign everyone because there's more people wrestling than ever before?
"[No. 2] When you start hoarding talent, you start getting the problems now where everybody is asking for releases every month because they're not being used."
Konnan can be seen every Saturday night, 9/8c, as part of MLW on BeIn Sports. For information about upcoming MLW shows and tickets please visit MLW.com. His full interview with Wrestling Inc. aired as part of today's episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon: by clicking here. The full interview can be heard via the embedded audio player below: