WWE Restricting Media Access To Wrestlers Due To Controversy Over Charlotte & Paige Angle On Raw

WWE is now prohibiting its talent from doing interviews with non-approved media entities, according to TopRopePress.com This directive stems from comments Ric Flair made on his weekly podcast, WOOOOO! Nation with Ric Flair, about WWE’s controversial angle on Raw involving Charlotte and Paige.

WWE already has a policy in place prohibiting talent from being interviewed on certain podcasts or by certain websites. For example, WWE doesn’t allow talent to appear on Jim Ross’ weekly podcast, The Ross Report. WWE also generally doesn’t allow talent to be interviewed by wrestling websites.

Basically, WWE only wants talent being interviewed by people who aren’t controversial and where they can approve the questions being asked beforehand. For instance, talent will likely continue to appear on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast since Sam Roberts rarely says anything controversial about WWE. Another example includes the recent appearances of WWE Superstars on ESPN’s SportsCenter, which are fluff segments with a former WWE employee in Jonathan Coachman who doesn’t bring up any hard-hitting questions. Outside of puff pieces on WWE, ESPN generally doesn’t cover the professional wrestling industry except when a notable wrestler dies.

Wrestling Observer Newsletter editor Dave Meltzer confirmed the story as accurate on Twitter and added on the F4WOnline.com message board: “They’re not going to restrict Jericho or Austin, or probably Flair. They already were restricting Ross unless things had changed. It’s others who for whatever reason they were cooperating with that were told no access to talent anymore.”

Meltzer also said that media people who cover sports and entertainment often say to him that ‘WWE operates completely different from any sports or entertainment company.’