From the WWE Rumor Mill: WWE trying to trademark the name 'Samoa Joe'
What's the story?
According to PWInsider, WWE have applied for a trademark for the name of 'Samoa Joe'. The company usually tries to own the trademark over the names of all its wrestlers in order to have complete control over the characters and their merchandise sales for example.
In case you didn't know…
Whenever a wrestler signs a contract with the WWE from different promotions, more often than not, he or she is given a different name in the company. Seth Rollins used to be Tyler Black (he continued with the name even after joining WWE developmental, though it was later changed), Finn Balor used to be Prince Devitt, Dean Ambrose was Jon Moxley, and so on.
There are a few exceptions to this rule - such as Samoa Joe, AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura, whose names were kept as they were, due to their large global appeal with their older names. WWE probably wanted to cash in on the appeal and decided to keep these names.
The heart of the matter
On 9th March, WWE reportedly applied to trademark the name 'Samoa Joe' for wrestling purposes. If successful in their attempts, this will mean that if the day comes that Joe wants to leave the WWE and wrestle for another promotion in future, he will not be allowed to use the name.
PWInsider also notes that Samoa Joe owns the trademark to his name since 2007, so it is not clear how WWE plans to transfer that trademark now.
At the time of his signing, the Samoan Submission Machine had revealed how he had been able to negotiate with WWE to keep his old moniker due to how popular he was with the fans already, and the financial opportunities (read merchandise sales) that came with that popularity.
However, some wrestlers who use their birth names for their characters, will not face this issue as birth names are exempted under trademarks. For instance, if Shinsuke Nakamura decides to wrestle for another promotion, he will be able to use the same name as it is also his birth name. This is the reason Kurt Angle was able to use his real name during his time in TNA/Impact.
What's next?
It has not been confirmed whether or not the WWE was successful in their attempt. Watch this space for more updates, when we get them.
Author's take
This is nothing but smart business strategy by WWE, something that should not come as a surprise in truth. Merchandise sales are a high source of revenue for the company and naturally, they like to have the reassurance that they are in full legal contract of their wrestlers' names.