The wwe zealously protects their Intellectual Property copyrights as well as media copyrights. In some cases the characters are completely created by wwe including attire, catchphrases and names. Obviously those qualify for Intellectual Property rights. However, how and why can they hold the same rights on characters that were created or at least developed by the wrestler himself? To my knowledge management may give them ideas or command them to perform a gimmick but for the most part the identifying characteristics are created by the talent such as attire etc..Wrestlers are independent contractors and have to pay for their own gear from what I heard. They think of most of the catchphrases or use finishing moves they had used for years before going to wwe...Why and how does wwe have rights to those parts the wrestler created? I never understood the "Intellectual Property" rights at all anyway..How someone can have rights to an intangible thing is beyond me. To me that leaves a tremendous area of gray to what could, would, or will fall into that category..To me it sounds vague and they could use it to apply to anything.

All Answers To Questions

They may sign away their rights to the WWE by being employees.

You basically answered your own question: "Wrestlers are independent contractors..." The wrestlers sign a contract that states that the WWE owns the rights to their characters. If the wrestler doesn't like the terms of the contract, they are free to either negotiate for better terms to their liking, or not sign the contract.