Who Owns The Rights To Sting’s Name

Sting made headlines last week when it was revealed that all of his merchandise was pulled from WWE’s online store. This meat that his contract ran out a significant time ago, because WWE has around six months to sell merchandise on a Superstar after their exit. Who owns the name Sting?

During Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer was asked by a listener who owns the rights to the name “Sting.” Since he recently left WWE’s umbrella that calls into question if he can be “Sting” elsewhere.

WWE makes some sign over their name to the company prior to using it on television. That did not happen for the WWE Hall Of Famer. It was explained that Sting owns his own name and “he purchased the rights to that name a long time ago. Vince McMahon does not own that name.”

Vince McMahon acquired a ton of intellectual property when he bought WCW. He owns pay-per-view names that WWE isn’t likely to ever use. One property that didn’t come over with the purchase of WCW was Sting’s name.

This should all be taken into consideration, especially since AEW seemed to tease a huge shocking moment at Full Gear.