John Oliver wants to force the WWE to treat its wrestlers better. His plan involves fellow wrestling fans.

John Oliver takes on the WWE
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/Last Week Tonight)

John Oliver dedicated the bulk of Sunday's Last Week Tonight to "professional wrestling, literally the only good excuse to wear a onesie — and that's right, babies, you're not pulling it off." Specifically, Oliver focused on "the undisputed corporate champion of wrestling, the WWE," and its "incredibly powerful" chairman and CEO, Vince McMahon, who "eliminated or absorbed" regional wrestling competitors throughout the 1980s and '90s to essentially form a wrestling monopoly.

Look, "I like wrestling," Oliver said. "It's objectively entertaining," and the WWE has "delivered numerous ludicrous and genuinely incredible moments," some of which he played. That's why WWE's WrestleMania is the No. 6 most valuable sports brand, just below the World Cup and four slots above the World Series, he said. But the wrestlers themselves die early at a "shockingly high" rate, and many fans "legitimately hate" McMahon "because while the WWE has made him a billionaire, many wrestlers say he's treated them terribly," and he has "shielded himself from responsibility for his wrestlers' welfare" to a "shocking" degree, mostly by ludicrously labeling them "independent contractors."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.