The Elite allegedly said that WWE is 'suing' AEW after Dynamite
AEW Dynamite had their special presentation last night and for the most part, wrestling fans were overtly positive about the show. But it seems that not everyone was happy about it. Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio is now reporting that The Elite came out after the show and said that AEW is being sued by WWE because of the 'Bash at the Beach' name.
It should be noted that AEW does not own the WCW-era PPV name. Cody Rhodes actually owns the trademark and gave permission to AEW to use it. Tony Khan confirmed it during an interview and said:
"Cody (Rhodes) went on a trademark binge one night and he texted me, 'Conrad and I were up all night trademarking stuff.' One of the things that came out of it was Bash at the Beach. So, when he said that we thought of a way to use it… and the unique idea was to go to Miami in January."
A couple of months ago, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful did say that some within WWE were unhappy with AEW using the name and that there was talk of taking legal action.
Meltzer said that The Elite did come out after the show and claimed that they were being sued by WWE. He explained: (H/T Wrestletalk),
“By the way at the end of the show, long after everything’s over they came out and they talked about Bash At The Beach and basically said — so I don’t know what’s happened — but they basically said I think we’re getting sued for calling the show Bash At The Beach. So I’m sure there’s a reason they said that. I don’t know if there were some threats or what, but they still called the show Bash At The Beach and next week is going to be Bash On The Beach, but they’re still gonna call it Bash At The Beach Week II.”
From the sound of it, AEW is being defiant as next week's Dynamite will take place on board the Chris Jericho cruise. Does WWE have a point in trying to stop them from using the name? Perhaps, more will be revealed in the months to come.