Tony Khan Accused Of Making Huge Mistake By Not Trademarking Cody Rhodes’ Logo

Cody Rhodes and his wife Brandi left AEW and then he made his way back to WWE. Fans were elated to see him back but also had some doubts about his booking. Tony Khan was also accused of making a huge mistake with Cody Rhodes.

Thankfully, all their doubts were removed as Cody Rhodes has been booked as a very huge star in WWE so far. Rhodes also has his own brand and he was virtually the same in WWE as he was in AEW.

While speaking on the 83 Weeks’ spin-off Podcast Strictly Business, Eric Bischoff accused Tony Khan of making a huge mistake by not trademarking Cody Rhodes’ logo.

“I use Chris Jericho for example, he’s out there applying for trademarks on intellectual property that is created while Chris is under contract to AEW and being positioned on AEW but Chris Jericho owns the trademark or he’s applying for it,. here’s an example of somebody who’s not focusing on intellectual property as it relates to the value of his brand, being AEW, [Tony Khan’s] company.

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When you’re allowing talent to create ideas that are then executed on television and you don’t own those trademarks or ideas, that’s not smart. Want an example? The American Nightmare. How could it be that somebody as high profile as Cody Rhodes and The American Nightmare brand are able to establish that brand in AEW and then take it with them and use it as leverage to negotiate a deal somewhere else?

There’s an example of what happens when you don’t control your intellectual property. And if I’m Tony Khan, I’m kicking myself in the balls all day long over that. If I’m WWE, that’s a choice, do I want to take advantage of the fact that I can utilize a trademark that was established somewhere else and I can bring it over here and build upon it, instead of it being worth $10, it’ll be worth $100? Or do I want to give him a new name so I can own it?

That would’ve been something that was negotiable when AEW first started. Maybe he came up with it on an indy show somewhere but it wasn’t being monetized. It was just something cool that he did with the logo and the tattoo. That is something that Tony Khan, I believe I could be wrong, but that could’ve been negotiated and Tony Khan could’ve owned that trademark.”

The American Nightmare is more than happy working in WWE, as it is likely he will become a main event level star in the future. We’ll have to see how Cody Rhodes will be booked in the next few months.

h/t to Wrestling Inc for the quotes

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