WWE ID Guidelines Report Shot Down By Indy Wrestling Promoter
A report about the WWE ID program has been debunked by a popular wrestling promoter.
It was announced in October 2024 that WWE was starting the WWE ID program. It was the company’s way of signing top independent pro wrestling talent to deals while those wrestlers continue to perform at independent wrestling shows.
Earlier in the week, the WWE ID social media account encouraged independent pro wrestling companies to book the WWE-ID talent for their shows.
A reminder to all independent wrestling promoters…. You can book all #WWEID talent in your promotion! This includes all #WWEID talent who are getting exposure on #WWEEvolve Contact talent individually for booking info.
Regarding the ID program, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter claimed that WWE’s Gabe Sapolsky puts matches together and makes independent promotions follow guidelines for the matches.
When it comes to the WWEID talent, the deal according to a contract is that Gabe Sapolsky puts the matches together and gives the script to the promoter. The promoter pays the talent and can push that the talent comes from WWE. WWE covers the travel costs with a stipend an the promoter pays the difference if the travel costs are larger than the stipend.
GCW Promoter Denies Report About WWE ID Program
Following the report by Meltzer, it circulated online and it led to several independent wrestling promotions denying what was reported. Brett Lauderdale of Game Changer Wrestling (GCW), which is one of the most popular independent promotions in the world, made it clear on social media that there are not strict guidelines when using the WWE ID talent.
My experience with WWE ID:
1. Gabe doesn’t put the matches together
2. I’ve never seen or heard of a script
3. We are “allowed” to push “WWE ID” on talent announcements (but we don’t)
4. Not aware of any travel stipend or travel share but that would be cool!
After Lauderdale and others responded to Meltzer’s report, Meltzer removed it from his newsletter.