Kemo
11-10-2023, 09:58 PM
A lawsuit claiming that both WWE & AEW stole the ideas of the claimant has been dismissed by a United States District Court judge.
The lawsuit was filed in August of this year by Anthony Duane Wilson, who submitted a hand-written suit rife with spelling errors. The suit claimed that both companies engaged in "plagiarism, market damages, product damages, personal damages and financial damages."
Wilson claimed that WWE had "used my creative works without permission, infringing on my wrestling gimmicks, names, slogans and likeness.” He did not give a specific example of an idea that was used by WWE without his blessing.
The suit claimed that he had talked with "members of the Bullet Club to join me in the venture of starting my company" which would become AEW. Wilson did not share specifics but stated "They stole the plans from me and my social media pages and cut me out without giving credit or the portion I am entitled to as the creator."
Wilson was seeking $250,000,000 in damages as well as control of AEW in addition to a public apology. From WWE, Wilson was seeking stock for his freelance work as well as a WWE board chair. He also sought the 'return' of "all ships and plunder."
This week, Judge Benita Y. Pearson of the United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio dismissed the lawsuit, citing that neither defendant had been served within 90 days of the lawsuit being filed. As PW Insider pointed out, the dismissal was without prejudice, which technically means that Wilson could re-file and attempt to move the case forward if he chose to.
The lawsuit was filed in August of this year by Anthony Duane Wilson, who submitted a hand-written suit rife with spelling errors. The suit claimed that both companies engaged in "plagiarism, market damages, product damages, personal damages and financial damages."
Wilson claimed that WWE had "used my creative works without permission, infringing on my wrestling gimmicks, names, slogans and likeness.” He did not give a specific example of an idea that was used by WWE without his blessing.
The suit claimed that he had talked with "members of the Bullet Club to join me in the venture of starting my company" which would become AEW. Wilson did not share specifics but stated "They stole the plans from me and my social media pages and cut me out without giving credit or the portion I am entitled to as the creator."
Wilson was seeking $250,000,000 in damages as well as control of AEW in addition to a public apology. From WWE, Wilson was seeking stock for his freelance work as well as a WWE board chair. He also sought the 'return' of "all ships and plunder."
This week, Judge Benita Y. Pearson of the United States District Court, Northern District of Ohio dismissed the lawsuit, citing that neither defendant had been served within 90 days of the lawsuit being filed. As PW Insider pointed out, the dismissal was without prejudice, which technically means that Wilson could re-file and attempt to move the case forward if he chose to.