Last year, Austin Theory won the Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder match and became the youngest Mr. Money in the Bank in WWE history. Theory then failed to cash in his MITB contract on then-United States Champion Seth Rollins on the November 7th episode of Monday Night RAW.
The 25-year-old star then revamped his gimmick after losing the MITB contract. Austin Theory claimed that he is not a kid anymore and also not the future. Theory stated that he is “The Now.”
However, the nickname “The Now” has a copyright which was trademarked by two independent wrestlers Vik Dalishus and Hale Collins. Their tag team has been known as “The Now” since 2006.
In an interview with the Hudson Valley Post, Vik Dalishus stated that he and his tag team partner sent two cease and desist letters to WWE. Dalishus said that they will file a lawsuit if WWE didn’t resolve the matter.
“My initial reaction was shock, because of the fact that we have had it copyrighted since 2006, and there’s many people in WWE who know Hale and I, know our names, and know we own it.
After shock goes away, we decided to reach out. We consulted with some friends who knew about the situation professionally and we were guided to an awesome lawyer named Mike Dockins, ‘the gimmick attorney’ who specializes in trademarks.
We have sent two cease and desist letters to WWE, they acknowledged one, and said they would look into it. Looking into it doesn’t stop it from being on TV. Our next step is a lawsuit for trademark infringement and creating confusion in the marketplace.”
We will update you when we receive more details. Stay tuned with The Spotlight.