WWE Signs Over Trademark Rights To Former Talent

Matt Hardy has been with AEW since 2020. When Hardy left WWE, he had an agreement to carry over his trademarks. It has been reported that WWE has made good on that deal.

Mia Yim was released by WWE in November of 2021. At that time, WWE also held the trademark to her ring name. The company was kind enough to transfer ownership of the name to Mia in February before her 90-day non-compete wrapped up.

Heel By Nature obtained trademark documents confirming both transfers. Matt Hardy was officially granted the trademark to his name on March 7 of this year. Matt recently reunited with his brother Jeff Hardy in AEW after Jeff was also cut by WWE.

WWE has a history of being notoriously stingy with its trademarks. The Dudley Boyz were unable to use that name outside of WWE despite performing as the characters in ECW for years before they left the company. Recently, things have been more amicable in terms of intellectual property.

Jim Ross, Mickie James, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk, Ric Flair, Karl Anderson, and Lio Rush have all had their trademarks signed over. The same was true for Chris Jericho in 2018 when he left the company to become a founding signee with AEW. This allows those performers to continue using their more familiar names outside of WWE.

Most of the trademarks WWE has signed over were used well before their performers showed up there. WWE could play hardball with the trademarks and probably would win out in a lengthy court battle just based on money and resources alone. It is good to see them allowing wrestlers to keep their identity after they’ve moved on.

What do you think of this story? Let us know in the comments!