The WWE just keeps getting slapped with more and more lawsuits by their former wrestlers. This time, Marcus “Buff” Bagwell has hit up the WWE Network over the royalty payments that the former wrestler claims that he is “contractually owed.”
Bagwell worked with WWE in the summer of 2001 for only two months before being released by the company, according to CageSideSeats. The wrestler took on “Booker T” in a match on Monday Night RAw in July 2001, and was his only match with the WWE.
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The lawsuit was filed by Bagwell’s attorneys Brenden Leydon, Matthew Peterson, and Clinton Krislov on Tuesday in the Connecticut Federal Court. The lawsuit deals with Section 7.5(a) (i) of the standard booking contract that Bagwell signed with the WCW (a WWE company) on June 4th, 2001.
The lawsuit states, “Defendant breached its early contract release with plaintiff by selling WCW video products (streaming videos on the WWE Network) of PPV’s and non-PPV’s without paying any royalties to plaintiff,” according to Courthouse News.
The contract states: “WCW shall allocate 25% of the Net Receipts paid to WCW by licensees authorized to reproduce and sell video cassettes, videodiscs, CD ROM, or other technology, including technology not yet created (hereinafter referred to as “WCW Video Products”), of WCW Pay-Per-Views in their entirety (“WCW Pay-Per-Views”) to a talent royalty pool. Thereafter, WCW shall pro-rate payment to Plaintiff and all other talent appearing in such WCW Pay-Per-Views in the same proportion as was the compensation paid to Plaintiff for his appearances in the pay-per-views to the total amount paid to all talent for their appearances in the pay-per-view.”
Bagwell’s lawyers contend that “other technology, including technology not yet created” should include WWE Network streaming videos. The complaint also states, “In 2015, WWE Network purchasers watched an estimated total of 256 million hours of content, representing an average of 188 hours per household.”
Do you think “Buff” Bagwell should be compensated by the WWE for the network royalties he thinks he is owed?
