10 Times Wrestling Promotions Faced Major Legal Battles

When you’re on top of the world, or approaching the top, or trying to knock off the the top company in the business, seemingly there’s a good chance lawsuits are going to come for you. Or at least in the wrestling industry, it would seem that way. From the most frivolous of lawsuits, like someone claiming Natalya was a dom torturing him, to another interesting fellow claiming WWE was performing sorcery on him through Booty-O’s, to more serious cases, there have been all sorts of lawsuits launched over the years.

9 Lawsuits You Didn't Know The WWE Faced

Since WWE is such a huge corporation, they're bound to get a lawsuit or two. However, sometimes, the case is either forgotten or totally ridiculous!

Heck, the late great stand up, Richard Belzer, referred to his home in France as “Chez Hogan” thanks to the payout he received when he was inadvertently choked out by Hulk prior to the first WrestleMania. These lawsuits, however, were all more important than the completely frivolous ones, and left a mark on the industry.

10 WWE Vs. Jesse The Body Ventura

Plenty Have Sued WWE And Won. Jesse Was One Of The First

Defendant	Plaintiff	Result
World Wrestling Entertainment	Jesse Ventura	WWE Had To Pay Ventura In Damages As Well As Royalties

As one of the great early heels of WWE, Jesse The Body Ventura's in ring career was cut short due to injury. He did, however, literally find his voice, and, alongside Vince McMahon himself, was one of the great commentary duos of that time. During contract negotiations in 1987, when Jesse asked about receiving royalties for his work, he was essentially lied to. It was explained to him that wrestlers and talent don't receive royalties.

When The Body found out that wasn't exactly the case, he was able to sue the company for fraud and misappropriation of publicity rights. He would win over 800 grand, and approximately an 8500 dollar back pay for non-video merchandise featuring Jesse.

9 WCW Vs. WWE For The ECW Title

When WCW Allegedly Tried To Pull A Fast One, Happy Heyman's Litigious Mind Sprang Into Battle

Defendant	Plaintiff	Result
World Championship Wrestling	Extreme Champion Wrestling	The ECW Brand Could Not Be Tarnished On WCW TV

While the outcome of this lawsuit didn’t change the business - it’s still a pretty cool event in wrestling history. When he wasn’t getting paid very well, if at all, then-ECW's Mike Awesome started speaking to WCW about the possibility of jumping ship.

As the story goes, Awesome wasn’t going to just jump ship, he had planned on taking the ECW title with him. Once Heyman caught wind of the plot, he filed an injunction against WCW to prevent this from happening. In his quick thinking, he contacted WWE and asked to borrow Taz to come smash Awesome for the title.

8 WCW - Copyright Infringement

Despite Being Themselves On WCW TV, WWE Felt Hall And Nash Were Being Presented As Razor And Diesel

Defendant	Plaintiff	Result
World Championship Wrestling	World Wrestling Federation	Settled Out Of Court

You could never pull off the nWo Invasion of WCW the way it was done in 1996 these days, since everyone, everywhere knows everything that is going to happen (or thinks they do). But when Scott Hall came to Nitro, he sounded a lot like Razor Ramon. Both he and Kevin Nash were not given names. Even Kevin Sullivan has admitted over the years, that it was done intentionally. But WWE certainly took umbrage with that and sued WCW for copyright infringement.

To help prove their case, they created the Fake Razor and Diesel. On the other channel, it got the real Hall and Nash more money, since the suits at Turner assumed the worst and offered The Outsiders more money to stay put. The case was settled out of court, but a unique clause was part of the settlement. WWE had the right to bid on WCW should the company ever be up for liquidation.

7 ECW - Mass Transit

Erich Kulas Became The Poster Child For Lying About Your Age And Training To Promoters

Defendant	Plaintiff	Result
ECW, New Jack	Erich Kulas	ECW, New Jack Found Not Guilty

In the “Don’t Try This At Home” department, ECW had an incident that was so gruesome and it technically (and legally) wasn’t even their own fault. An underage 17-year-old, Erich Kulas had come to the ECW show in Revere, MA in November 1996. But due to a family emergency, Ian Rotten could not. Kulas lied about his age and his training. He was paired up with Devon Dudley against The Gangstas. New Jack cut the kid open and cut him open badly. The lawsuit led to the company nearly having its first ever PPV shut down and sponsorship being yanked. After begging and pleading with the provider (and of course winning the case), Barely Legal was put back on the PPV schedule.

6 WWE - World Wildlife Fund Vs. World Wrestling Federation

The WWE Locker Room Might Have Been Filled With Birds, Snakes, And Bulldogs; But The Real WWF Took Umbrage With The Letters

Defendant	Plaintiff	Result
World Wrestling Federation	World Wide Fund For Nature	World Wrestling Federation Opted To Change Their Company To WWE

While plenty of old school wrestlers have worked with bears before, the entire WWE had to do the favors for every animal ever, in the form of the other WWF - the World Wildlife Federation. Despite both companies using the WWF acronym since at least 1979, The WWE had violated an agreement between the two companies from 1994 and in 2000, “The Panda” took them to court over it. The agreement essentially said that WWE would cease using WWF letters. Obviously, they didn’t, and The Panda sued WWE again. This time, the company did cease to use the letters and started the “Get The F Out” campaign.

5 TNA - Smashed A Pumpkin

Mega Fan Billy Corgan Tried To Save TNA And Learned Wrestling Politics In The Process

Defendant	Plaintiff	Result
TNA Wrestling	Billy Corgan	TNA Would Have To Pay Loans Back To Corgan

Now that Impact Wrestling is once again back to using TNA (to be honest, did anyone ever stop referring to it as TNA?), we can discuss a moment in time when the whole promotion nearly crumbled like everyone has continued to think it would. Billy Corgan, a major wrestling fan and lead singer of The Smashing Pumpkins, swept in with money and ideas. He was made President of Impact Ventures and gave the company several big loans. He claimed that since TNA defaulted on paying back the loans, that he would be able to gain control of the company. A Nashville, Tennessee judge disagreed and TNA only had to pay the loan back with interest - Dixie got to keep the company for a little while longer.

4 TNA - Against The Founder

Apparently, Being The Founder Of A Wrestling Company Still Doesn't Carry Enough Stroke For Double J

Defendant	Plaintiff	Result
Anthem Wrestling Exhibitions	Jeff Jarrett And Global Force Entertainment	Settlement Reached In 2021

TNA seems to enjoy burning bridges with its creative heads - in this case The Founder himself. After returning to the company, now owned by Anthem, Jarrett had brought the Global Force Wrestling brand with him and the intention was that the two companies would become married.

That didn’t happen. Shortly after returning to TNA, Jarrett took an indefinite leave of absence. The company, however, kept using and monetizing GFW. After several years of back and forth courtroom drama, Anthem and Double J settled out of court.

3 WCW - Hulk Hogan Vs. Vince Russo

The Last Stand Of Hulk Hogan In WCW

Defendant	Plaintiff	Result
World Championship Wrestling, Inc et al	Terry Bollea (aka Hulk Hogan)	Summary Judgment In Favor Of WCW

Can you imagine if Brad Pitt or Leonardo DiCaprio sued a movie studio and a big producer if the ending of their movie got changed? That’s kind of what happened at Bash At The Beach 2000, albeit things got a lot more personal between WCW Head Of Creative Vince Russo and Hulk Hogan. The events of the evening Vince Russo has always claimed were a big work and Hogan would return eventually to face Jeff Jarrett in a unification match on or around Halloween Havoc. But Russo’s comments and actions during the initial Jarrett / Hogan showdown were supposedly off-script, and he didn’t clue anyone in on the proceedings.

Hogan tried to sue Russo and WCW for defamation of character. The suit got tossed, since Russo’s claim was that despite going off script, it was still entirety in character about the character of Hulk Hogan.

2 MLW - Antitrust Vs. WWE

Just Because You Are Number One By Leaps And Bounds Doesn't Make You A Monopoly

Defendant	Plaintiff	Result
World Wrestling Entertainment	MLW Media, LLC	Lawsuit Was Dismissed, But Bauer Is Continuing To Pursue Action

In layman’s terms, American Antitrust laws prevent one company from becoming a monopoly above all others. That means that no matter how massive WWE is, and their firm grasp on many facets of the industry - TV and streaming services essentially lock out other promotions from having TV and streaming deals with NBCUniversal and their affiliates - it just doesn’t make them a monopoly.

A court didn’t think so either and heaved Court Bauer and MLW’s lawsuit against the WWE out of the courtroom. The WWE are fully within their rights to make sure the companies they do business with don't allow competitors to do business with their partners as well.

1 WWE - Steroid Trial

The Case That Nearly Changed The Entire Wrestling Landscape

Defendant	Plaintiff	Result
Vince McMahon And Titan Sports	United States Of America	Jury Found Vince McMahon Not Guilty

The entire wrestling industry would have been scrutinized and brought to its knees had the FBI and the United States found anything of note against Vince McMahon and WWE and their steroid trial that they brought forth. During the trial, WWE’s super lawyer Jerry McDevitt didn’t even bring one witness to the stand. Famously, Nailz was treated as a hostile witness who claimed he had no animosity towards Vince. But when asked if he hated McMahon, he said he does hate Vince, clearly not knowing what the word animosity meant.

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