World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has a huge following worldwide. WWE is immensely popular among wrestling enthusiasts.The fights are scripted and choreographed for pure entertainment value. The fights are promoted as harmless fun and larger than life is what it’s all about. But they do include risky moves which can cause serious injuries. WWE has been in the spotlight for another reason than wrestling matches – a bunch of lawsuits filed against it by its male and female talent among others. Read on to find out who filed these lawsuits and for what reasons:
Dozens of retired wrestlers file lawsuit against WWE
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A lawsuit was filed against the WWE by dozens of pro wrestlers, including Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka and Joseph “Road Warrior Animal” Laurinaitis. The suit alleges that the WWE misrepresented and concealed the nature of injuries incurred by the fighters. They alleged that the wrestlers suffered long term neurological injuries in the course of working for the company, for which it routinely failed to provide medically competent care.
The organization plays up to the audience’s expectations of blood and gore, and though it’s pretend, WWE wrestlers do get seriously roughed up in these fake fights.53 wrestlers are suing WWE owner Vince McMahon and his company over the negligence of the company for not providing medical treatment for their traumatic injuries.
Warner Bros. sued WWE over the use of the “Superman Punch” trademark
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Warner Brothers sued WWE because of the maneuver by WWE superstar Roman Reigns which the company dubbed the “Superman Punch”. Warner Bros representatives said that they owned all the rights to “Superman everything” and the WWE had no right to use the trademarked name. Warner Bros. wanted the WWE to stop their commentators using the maneuver the “Superman Punch” and stated that they could not market Reigns to look like Superman.
The Nicole Bass lawsuit
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Nicole Bass was aformer NPC bodybuilding champion and one-time pro wrestling valet for WWE. She filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the WWE, after she left the organization, in 1999. She has had a long fight with the WWE who tried to refute her charges several times. She finally took her case to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
She claimed Steve Lombardi sexually accosted her on a flight to England and that male wrestlers would barge inside the women’s locker room, when she was in a state of undress. She claimed she never complained when she was with the WWE as she feared retribution. She received death threats and once a guitar was broken over her head to see how strong she was. She alleged that WWE violated the Equal Pay Agreement by not paying her wages comparable to those of male wrestlers.
Brock Lesnar sued Triple H, CEO of WWE
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Brock Lesnar, former UFC heavyweight contender sued Triple H, the CEO of WWE for breach of contract. His representative Paul Lesnar served him in front of a live audience. WWE vice president John Laurinaitis and Lesnar entered into an oral contract in front of millions of people on live television. Triple H, the CEO disregarded that agreement and tore it up, and Lesnar sued him for his illegal action, and the millions of dollars WWE owed him. WWE’s breach of trust violation proved to be too expensive for them!
Vito LoGrasso sued WWE
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WWE superstar Vito LoGrasso sued the WWE on medical grounds. He alleged that he suffered terrible physical injuries because the company did not protect its talent. He claimed that the company did not educate their talent about the fact that repeated blows to the head could have serious health implications, concussion damage was not considered by the WWE to be dangerous.
This is just another example of a celebrity lawsuit filed against the WWE for not providing complete information about the health hazards in the kind professional wrestling the WWE promotes. Vito issued a statement to PWInsider about his pending lawsuit, in which he said that hefiledthe lawsuit not only for his benefit but for all pro wrestlers.
These lawsuits focused on the various problems WWE wrestlers and others have had with them, ranging from lack of proper medical care to breach of contract to misuse of trademark of another organization.
