One of the questions about All Elite Wrestling since before the promotion was even confirmed to be real was “Would it provide health insurance for its wrestlers?” If you’re not as deep into the wrestling internet/don’t follow Nick Jackson on Twitter, you might not know that speculation about this started after the younger Young Buck quote-tweeted “I agree” to a tweet that read “Wrestlers need health insurance and they should get it through the company they work for” back in October 2018.
I agree. https://t.co/TtPbvES6eD
— Being the Elite (@BeingTheElite) October 23, 2018
At the Double or Nothing rally, Cody told fans that AEW will “change the wrestling economy” and talked about wrestlers being paid more and that “happy wrestlers means happy fans.” Given that even the largest wrestling company in United States and the world, WWE, hires wrestlers as independent contractors and does not offer health insurance (though they do cover costs of medical treatment if “a wrestler is injured while performing“), AEW offering benefits would certainly be a change for the wrestling world
After the event, Wrestling Inc. asked Cody and the Young Bucks, all Executive Vice Presidents of AEW, if the new promotion will offer health insurance and benefits for the talent. Cody said that AEW will have the same policy as WWE regarding injuries sustained by wrestlers while performing for the company.
Matt Jackson responded that “the big thing about All Elite is that we want to take care of the boys… The executives are going to have benefits and stuff, and they’re going to get taken care of. We’re in the day one process and we’re working on it, but yeah, that’s definitely a plan.” His response to if talent [in addition to himself, his brother, Cody, and Brandi Rhodes, all also executives] might get health insurance “one day” was “Never say never, really. We’re early on, so we’re creaking open that door barely… hopefully, we can swing it wide open.”
Wrestling Inc. also spoke to AEW President Tony Khan about whether talent would receive benefits. Khan said that “Different people, depending on their level of responsibility within the company, will have different deals… I think there’s a great opportunity for people to gain full-time employment in this company, not just as a wrestler, but also in the front office… We already have a lot of people involved and we’ll definitely be taking care of our employees.”
Khan also said that wrestlers would have “favorable schedules” and “I feel really positive about what we’re doing in terms of taking care of the guys. We have great management and the guys we’re focusing it on, Cody and the Bucks, they are very, very hands-on with the talent. And I’m sure, for us, the kind of people we’re bringing in, they’re gonna contribute to the company in a number of ways. And I think that, yeah, there is a package, a competition package and healthcare package that could be available.”
So like most things surrounding AEW now besides a few contracting signings, a May 25 show in Las Vegas, and a later show in Jacksonville, the question of healthcare does not seem to have a definite, publicly available answer at this time.
