Paige breaks down on Twitch as WWE’s streaming crackdown kicks in
SarayaOfficial, TwitchWWE superstar Paige, real name Saraya-Jade Bevis, broke down in front of her fans on Twitch after the news came through that her employers had started cracking down on talent engaging on third-party platforms.
Under their new restrictions, the sports entertainment company will take proceeds from their stars streaming under the wrestling names. For example, Paige’s donations on Twitch would previously be paid to her directly, but in the future that will not be the case.
In response to the measures, stars like her and AJ Styles have decided to stop streaming for a period of time – until more suitable terms can be agreed between both parties.
For a wrestler like Paige, though, who is injured – this was a difficult pill to swallow.
Paige / InstagramPaige gets devastating news on Twitch
On October 29, the British star – who hails from Norwich, England – decided to cancel her stream after receiving the news on her phone while live. In the spur of the moment, she walked off-stream for a short while before returning to the screen. Tears flowing down her face, she started to explain what was happening.
The Twitch broadcast VOD itself has been muted in certain areas, potentially due to the music being played in the background. So, clips are quite hard to come by on there, but some have posted the comments to YouTube.
Bevis said: “There may be a time where I have to stop streaming. I’ll have to walk away. If I have to leave, we have to make today and Saturday f***ing crazy. I’ve honestly gotten to the point where I cannot deal with this company anymore. Now I have to make a very important decision.
“Over f***ing worked. I broke my f***ing neck twice for this company. They don’t realize that this community isn’t about subs. We build a community and family where this is an escape for a lot of people, including myself. I can’t wrestle anymore. I was worked so hard in WWE that I can’t wrestle anymore because my neck is f***ed. My whole dreams got taken away. I had to have something that fulfilled that huge f***ing void that I lost with wrestling.”
https://youtu.be/2E5AXx1cshQ
Twitch has been an escape for injured Paige
The star injured her neck back in 2017 and has since even returned to the ring. At the time of her stream, though, she is out with another injury and unable to compete. Turning to Twitch, she has built up quite the following – with almost 150,000 people following her channel.
After that, she confirmed that she plans to continue streaming one way or another, and will see where that takes her. During the livestream, Paige revealed going live on the streaming website wasn’t for the donations and subscriber payments, but instead, an escape.
She added: “I understand if they’re like, ‘you’re wrestling every day and doing shows every day,’ but I’m an injured wrestler. I get used for media stuff, sometimes, but at the end of the day, I’m in my house going f***ing crazy and I need something to keep me sane.
“Twitch was my escape. Right now, I’m just sitting on my f***ing ass. People think I should be thankful that I still have a job, and I am, but it doesn’t mean I should be treated like f***ing shit. I had my neck taken away from me twice. You can’t take away my Twitch too.”
It appears to be heating up in the battle between employees and their employer. There’s a good chance WWE superstars take further action in the dispute too, as Paige mentioned potential unionization and hiring a lawyer, so it could be about to get a whole lot messier.