Lana's Instagram posts led Vince McMahon to ban WWE Superstars from third-party platforms
Earlier today, Wrestling Twitter blew up after Wrestling Inc. reported that WWE has banned its wrestlers from engaging in third-party platforms like Twitch. The company feels that WWE Superstars using their names and likeness on these platforms is detrimental to the brand.
Wrestlers have been told to terminate their activities on these platforms within the next 30 days. Now, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio is reporting that the ban came in light of WWE Superstar Lana promoting an energy drink on her official Instagram handle.
Here's what Meltzer had to say in regards to the situation:
The straw that broke the camel’s back was CJ Perry’s Bang Energy drink commercials.
Lana has been promoting the "Bang Energy" drinks on her Instagram account for a while now, and there's a string of posts made by her hyping up the product over the past few weeks.
Here is the transcript of the letter that Vince McMahon sent to WWE talent, via Fightful:
“Furthering my comments last Sunday regarding the reinvention of our product, it is imperative that we promote and protect our brand in every conceivable way. Some of you are engaged with outside 3rd parties using your name and likeness in ways that our detrimental to our company. It is imperative that these activities be terminated within the next 30 days (by Friday October 2). Continued violations will result in fines, suspension or termination at WWE’s discretion. These actions are necessary in order to rebuild our brand as we enter the next phase of growth at WWE.
Lana and several other WWE Superstars have social media handles on YouTube, Twitch, and other major platforms
Lana is quite active on her official YouTube channel and she regularly promotes brands on her Instagram account, as well. After the report came out, several Superstars as well as former wrestlers expressed their disappointment over it on social media. Former WWE Superstar Paige went on to change her Twitch channel's name from OfficialPaigeWWE to SarayaOfficial. We'll update you on the situation as and when more reports come out.