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NOV 2020 WRESTLING DISCUSSION


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1 hour ago, Smelly McUgly said:

@EoaeIs this common knowledge about their contracts re: naming rights, or are you playing contract lawyer online here? 

I thought it was common knowledge, but not sure.  Names, merch rights, and contracts were discussed quite a bit 10+ years ago when indy guys first started getting signed.  There was some controversy about wrestlers getting released and not being allowed to use names they had used previously because WWE owned the trademarks.  As I recall, WWE would have preferred to use Bryan Danielson’s and Low-ki’s Indy gimmick names, but Ki wouldn’t agree and Danielson was using his real name so it couldn’t be trademarked.  
 

i tend to think things have changed, but according to Meltzer and others who were covering the business 10 years ago, WWE was asking most talent to sign over rights to their gimmick name in some fashion.  This has been backed up in a few shoots and such.  My impression was that the company eventually started renaming everyone largely because it was the easiest way to control merch rights.   I’m fairly sure Meltzer had said as much.
 

i do wonder how much control talent had over their names in the first place.  I ‘m skeptical the average indie wrestler thought to trademark his or her gimmick name.  More likely, WWE just explained what they intended to do and the wrestler went along with or was told they couldn’t be signed if they resisted.

I’m also assuming there were exceptions.   iirc, Punk negotiated a better deal and rights to the name reverted back to him after he left.  I’d be surprised if AJ didn’t negotiate a better deal, though AJ has always insisted he’s going to retire after his WWE contract expires.  

Did WWE keep making Punk merch after he left?  I don’t remember.  

Most of what I said above was was reported elsewhere - probably by Melzer.  He talked about this issue a lot 10-12 years ago.  As far as being an internet contract lawyer, not me.  I have taken a contract law class or two, but that was 25 years ago and I didn’t graduate. I had planned to graduate law school but a serious drinking problem got in the way and my girlfriend announced she wouldn’t marry me unless I pulled myself together and then found a new career.  Since she was implying she’d be willing to marry down, I decided I should listen to her.

 

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11 minutes ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

Sports Illustrated never seems to come right out and attack WWE.  I believe they have some type of relationship so that article is about as good as you'll see from them. 

They are one of the places where WWE "breaks" stories, so you can probably presume they have some kind of relationship. That might explain the hatchet piece on Bret I heard SI ran recently. 

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WWE has a really good thing going for them by being able to basically violate the law by misclassifying it's wrestlers as IC's because they fly under the radar. Doing what they are doing over chump change knowing that it's highly likely there will soon be people in positions of power who have publicly stated their intentions to go after them reeks of insane arrogance and they absolutely deserve it if it all comes crashing down.

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Getting back to the Iron Man match conversation, last night I got to the point in my Ohio Valley Wrestling watch where they ran a 30-minute Iron Man match on TV for the Southern Tag Team titles between The Revolution (The Machine and The Damaja, aka the Basham Brothers) and the Lords Of The Ring (Nick Dinsmore and Rob Conway, aka Eugene and Rob Conway). It's not a bad match, as all four guys are much better workers than their main roster runs would indicate, but it's worked at the same sprint-like pace that literally every OVW match from this period is worked. And they rip off the Bret/HBK ending by going to sudden death after the match ends in a tie. 

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Look, I want to roast Alexa for getting engaged to some middle-aged one hit wonder assbag who's like nine years older than her, but if I were available and Jennifer Love Hewitt were to holler at me tomorrow...yeah, I get dating your adolescent crushes. No hate here. Best wishes to them.

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1 hour ago, just drew said:

Look, I want to roast Alexa for getting engaged to some middle-aged one hit wonder assbag who's like nine years older than her, but if I were available and Jennifer Love Hewitt were to holler at me tomorrow...yeah, I get dating your adolescent crushes. No hate here. Best wishes to them.

I listened to Alexa Bliss on Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend last week, and it sounds like she barely even knew who he was before they started dating.

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2 hours ago, kafkonia said:

I listened to Alexa Bliss on Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend last week, and it sounds like she barely even knew who he was before they started dating.

Why does this (combined with Just Drew's comments) suddenly make me think of season 2's biggest plot twist of Netflix's "You" -series? Are we sure Alexa's not just saying she didn't know who he was? After that show, I can never be sure of things like that.

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Spoiler

nl9me3wfcnz51.png

The above horse manure posted by Nia Jax. Her and Drake two peas in a pod. Or does this belong in a separate thread to keep track of all the crazies as they out themselves?

Good on Vega standing up for herself and pushing back against the edict. Who knows, if she had a reasonable boss she might even helped the other talent win some concessions or come to a compromise on the side revenue streams, especially considering the paltry revenue % they get versus other high profile sports. But no, an example has to be set, dammit, otherwise they boys'll walk all over you.  

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5 hours ago, Shartnado said:

Why does this (combined with Just Drew's comments) suddenly make me think of season 2's biggest plot twist of Netflix's "You" -series? Are we sure Alexa's not just saying she didn't know who he was? After that show, I can never be sure of things like that.

It's a weird story and I can't do it justice. Let's just say if anyone's fibbing it's probably not her.

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3 hours ago, Custos said:
  Reveal hidden contents

nl9me3wfcnz51.png

The above horse manure posted by Nia Jax. Her and Drake two peas in a pod. Or does this belong in a separate thread to keep track of all the crazies as they out themselves?

 

I guess the question I would ask Nia is based on that why would God hate your more famous more likeable cousin

 

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14 hours ago, Eoae said:

i do wonder how much control talent had over their names in the first place.  I ‘m skeptical the average indie wrestler thought to trademark his or her gimmick name.  More likely, WWE just explained what they intended to do and the wrestler went along with or was told they couldn’t be signed if they resisted.

 

 

 

You can use a name without trademarking it and still, by law, own the rights to it if you're the first one to use it.  Using a mark in commerce before applying for it actually gives you a stronger case to be awarded the mark.  Source: I've trademarked a name before and consulted with an IP attorney before doing so.

Any indy guy who was working under a given name before hiring would legally have the rights to their name, trademark or not, unless they agreed to sign it over.  It's not like Joe Blow can work for years with a strong indy following, not trademark his name, and then WWE can jump in and apply for the trademark and steal it out from under them.  It doesn't work that way.  I can't go trademark the names of the top 50 guys on the indies tomorrow and then charge them for the right to use their names just because they haven't trademarked them.

I have no idea what WWE's approach to naming is now.  It used to be they'd rename just about everyone so they'd own the rights to that new "character" and guys would go back to their original names or some other name after leaving.  Now it's different and I have no idea what goes into naming decisions.  Some guys change their names when they come in while others don't. 

Edited by Technico Support
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