Is there any way I can stop someone from taking a movie role?

[stebbinsd]

One of my top guys - the #1 contender for my world title - just got offered a movie role in-game and he'll be leaving in two months to go film it.

 

This is unacceptable for me. He's under an exclusive, written contract, and I have plans for him for the next three months. Major plans. Main event, world title picture plans.

 

If this were real life, the fact that I have this guy under written contract means he absolutely would not be allowed to just walk off the show without my approval.

 

So is there any way in this game that I can lay down the law and just tell him to **** off with this movie role? Because I really need the ability to do that.

 

For that matter, exactly how long will it take for him to complete this acting gig? Maybe I can have him back in time for the PPV.

[hailthebulldog]

One of my top guys - the #1 contender for my world title - just got offered a movie role in-game and he'll be leaving in two months to go film it.

 

This is unacceptable for me. He's under an exclusive, written contract, and I have plans for him for the next three months. Major plans. Main event, world title picture plans.

 

If this were real life, the fact that I have this guy under written contract means he absolutely would not be allowed to just walk off the show without my approval.

 

So is there any way in this game that I can lay down the law and just tell him to **** off with this movie role? Because I really need the ability to do that.

 

For that matter, exactly how long will it take for him to complete this acting gig? Maybe I can have him back in time for the PPV.

 

As far as I'm aware you can't stop them from taking the role. I also believe that the filming takes about 6 months but I'm not entirely sure on that one.

[d12345]

If this were real life, the fact that I have this guy under written contract means he absolutely would not be allowed to just walk off the show without my approval.

 

No nothing you can do in game.

 

If this were real life you could not stop him from taking the role either actually. If you told him not to take it and he did anyway, you would either have to fire him, not pay him while he was away, or put a hold on the contract so that the dates he is filming do not count towards it's expiry date. As long as he's not working for a competitor in your industry you don't have much legal recourse to stop the guy.

 

But yea, he's gone. I avoid making actors and MMA fighters the central figure of my company.

[Sprout1883]

No nothing you can do in game.

 

If this were real life you could not stop him from taking the role either actually. If you told him not to take it and he did anyway, you would either have to fire him, not pay him while he was away, or put a hold on the contract so that the dates he is filming do not count towards it's expiry date. As long as he's not working for a competitor in your industry you don't have much legal recourse to stop the guy.

 

But yea, he's gone. I avoid making actors and MMA fighters the central figure of my company.

 

I don't use figureheads but don't mind too much if someone just disappears. Of course it can be a bit annoying, but I go with it and just create a storyline out of it

[Zero]

I don't use figureheads but don't mind too much if someone just disappears. Of course it can be a bit annoying, but I go with it and just create a storyline out of it

 

Same. I'm pretty sure between 1985 and 1993, Hogan was only active 60 or 70% of the time. He would leave for six months to a year for film roles. It was awful but fun. New challengers, new champions.

[Matt_Black]

Same. I'm pretty sure between 1985 and 1993, Hogan was only active 60 or 70% of the time. He would leave for six months to a year for film roles. It was awful but fun. New challengers, new champions.

 

Of course, back then, you only had four PPVs a year, and TV was totally different, too.

[redhilleagle]

No nothing you can do in game.

 

If this were real life you could not stop him from taking the role either actually.

 

Pretty sure if it were real life, you could legally stop him or be compensated in some way. He is breaking contract. Unless he films his scenes around working shows for his wrestling promotion.

If you were to fire him, therefore breaking the contract, you'd pay him compensation, so.........

 

At least in this instance he'll probably gain a lot of pop from it (I think), where-as in my game I had a similar situation, but the guy went in to politics for a while, in which case he would have probably have come back much less popular!!

[Vinsmoker]

Pretty sure if it were real life, you could legally stop him or be compensated in some way. He is breaking contract. Unless he films his scenes around working shows for his wrestling promotion.

If you were to fire him, therefore breaking the contract, you'd pay him compensation, so.........

 

At least in this instance he'll probably gain a lot of pop from it (I think), where-as in my game I had a similar situation, but the guy went in to politics for a while, in which case he would have probably have come back much less popular!!

 

Brian Pillman was the first wrestler that was properly locked down, so I imagine that IRL there is not much you could do about it. Especially to independent contractors. Unless someone was signed specifically for certain events/shows, I don't think it is illegal to go away to film a movie

[Historian]

One of my top guys - the #1 contender for my world title - just got offered a movie role in-game and he'll be leaving in two months to go film it.

 

This is unacceptable for me. He's under an exclusive, written contract, and I have plans for him for the next three months. Major plans. Main event, world title picture plans.

 

If this were real life, the fact that I have this guy under written contract means he absolutely would not be allowed to just walk off the show without my approval.

 

So is there any way in this game that I can lay down the law and just tell him to **** off with this movie role? Because I really need the ability to do that.

 

For that matter, exactly how long will it take for him to complete this acting gig? Maybe I can have him back in time for the PPV.

 

You can't stop him from taking the movie role in the game and in real life -- depending on the specific wording of the contract, you wouldn't be able to refuse him to leave to take movies. If you look at The Rock, he was going to leave to do movies no matter what so WWE had to let him, because he could have just sat out and breached his contract -- which would just mean he wouldn't have gotten paid, and he could still go off and do the movie.

 

Guys can walk on written contracts -- they just choose not to 99.9% of the time. There is a misconception that wrestlers are "Stuck" with their contract. They can breach their contracts, it just means they stop getting paid and most don't want to stop getting paid. When CM Punk went home, he breached his contract and stopped getting paid but there was nothing they could do about it. Same with Stone Cold. He went home and didn't show up for scheduled appearances and he chose to pay a fine to come back but he didn't have to.

 

If you look at it from recent times, John Cena went from being a fulltime performer to an actor and I'm sure WWE would like to have him back, but he is off doing his thing.

 

In game, it's the roll of the dice. You have to deal with things as they come. It sucks sometimes. In my main game, my number one babyface (Conner Threepwood) legit died right before he was going into a title program. Nothing I could do about it, I just had to roll with the punches. Unfortunately, sometimes the game throws a wrench in your plans. A guy gets hurt. A guy leaves. A guy refuses to put someone over. You're in an alliance and can't get the champion that day. In this instance, you just have to plan something else, unfortunately.

[stebbinsd]

No nothing you can do in game.

 

If this were real life you could not stop him from taking the role either actually. If you told him not to take it and he did anyway, you would either have to fire him, not pay him while he was away, or put a hold on the contract so that the dates he is filming do not count towards it's expiry date. As long as he's not working for a competitor in your industry you don't have much legal recourse to stop the guy.

I could also sue him in court for failing to fulfill his existing contractual obligations.

 

I avoid making actors and MMA fighters the central figure of my company.

 

He isn't an actor or MMA fighter, though.

[stebbinsd]

Same. I'm pretty sure between 1985 and 1993, Hogan was only active 60 or 70% of the time. He would leave for six months to a year for film roles. It was awful but fun. New challengers, new champions.

 

Yeah, but he had permission from Vince McMahon to do that, didn't he? He didn't just completely shirk his existing contractual obligation to wrestle for WWE. His acting career was incorporated into his wrestling contract.

[Matt_Black]

Yeah, but he had permission from Vince McMahon to do that, didn't he? He didn't just completely shirk his existing contractual obligation to wrestle for WWE. His acting career was incorporated into his wrestling contract.

 

There are a lot of real world contractual issues that aren't reflected in the game. Like, the WWE will tack on time to the contracts of people who had gotten injured, and that's not something that's possible in the game (aside from using the editor).

[redhilleagle]

Brian Pillman was the first wrestler that was properly locked down, so I imagine that IRL there is not much you could do about it. Especially to independent contractors. Unless someone was signed specifically for certain events/shows, I don't think it is illegal to go away to film a movie

 

Yes, if the independent wrestler was not on a written contract.

It's the same in any industry. You couldn't have a professional Football (or soccer) player on a written fixed term contract just say "I'm going to film this movie so won't be playing for a five months. Good luck winning matches without me."

[Vinsmoker]

Yes, if the independent wrestler was not on a written contract.

It's the same in any industry. You couldn't have a professional Football (or soccer) player on a written fixed term contract just say "I'm going to film this movie so won't be playing for a five months. Good luck winning matches without me."

 

Football players aren't independent contractors and aren't tied down to specific amount of dates. Unless otherwise specified, the independent contractor can decide to take their work elsewhere, if they wanted to. Unless it's in the same line of work as the contract, the wrestling/MMA company can't prevent the contracted one from doing so.

 

Unless, again, specific dates were agreed upon. Like Brock Lesnar when he first left the WWE.

[Monday Night Chores]

Isn’t half the fun of the game when little things like this crop up?

[Captain Kayfabe]

Isn’t half the fun of the game when little things like this crop up?

 

Agreed. I love when things like this happen (also injuries). It challenges my creativity and booking plans. I especially enjoy these challenges when I'm playing with a larger company, as my rosters are typically quite bloated lol

[Monday Night Chores]

Agreed. I love when things like this happen (also injuries). It challenges my creativity and booking plans. I especially enjoy these challenges when I'm playing with a larger company, as my rosters are typically quite bloated lol

 

I think I came over as a bit dismissive. I know some people don't like these curve balls. For me I enjoy when things crop up and force me to change plans. A movie role is great as means they come back with higher pop normally.

[redhilleagle]

Football players aren't independent contractors and aren't tied down to specific amount of dates. Unless otherwise specified, the independent contractor can decide to take their work elsewhere, if they wanted to. Unless it's in the same line of work as the contract, the wrestling/MMA company can't prevent the contracted one from doing so.

 

Unless, again, specific dates were agreed upon. Like Brock Lesnar when he first left the WWE.

 

Perhaps in the real world, Wrestling stars don't sign long term contracts, but they probably WOULD if they were offered. The written-Exclusive contract in game is there surely to simulate the rare occasions when a company DOES want to strap a worker down. For example, Bret Hart in 1997, 10 year contract. I know he still ended up leaving, but that was because Vince realised he made an error in that contract and he let Hart negotiate with WCW. (Maybe in the real world they work on rolling monthly contracts? I don't know, I don't work in the industry.)

 

What's the point in signing a worker for 3 or 5 years if at any time they can say "I'm off" without a penalty? I have no problem par se with workers deciding to up and leave mid contract, but surely there should be some kind of compensation.

 

When signing a worker, you pay them more if you want them long term, to protect themselves from potentially being worth more than they are being paid. But where's the protection for the company if they decide to quit early?

 

I'd turn straight round to that guy and say "You demanded more money for a 5 year contract, I agreed to pay you that, and now you're buggering off after 3? You owe me, pal!"

 

In the real world, top workers don't have much choice of where to work (for the same amount of money or more than what they are already earning).

 

And Brock Lesnar LEAVING a company is different to just swanning off for a few months to film a movie. As I said, without penalty.

 

Do you still pay a workers wages whilst they are away filming?

[d12345]

Perhaps in the real world, Wrestling stars don't sign long term contracts, but they probably WOULD if they were offered. The written-Exclusive contract in game is there surely to simulate the rare occasions when a company DOES want to strap a worker down. For example, Bret Hart in 1997, 10 year contract. I know he still ended up leaving, but that was because Vince realised he made an error in that contract and he let Hart negotiate with WCW. (Maybe in the real world they work on rolling monthly contracts? I don't know, I don't work in the industry.)

 

The game does not simulate a salaried employee. If it did that would be an exclusive written contract that is ongoing.

 

You absolutely can NOT stop an independent contractor from taking other work that does not compete with your business. That's what the no compete clause covers.

 

Films do not compete with a wrestling TV show.

 

WWE is not able to stop a worker from taking a role if the production company is willing to deal directly with the talent. That is why WWE tries to force production companies to book talent through them. It's so they can control their schedules better.

 

Also WWE signs talent to exclusive written contracts on a per show basis with a downside guarantee.

 

If you structure your contracts like that, you will only be paying workers their downside while they are away.