The WWE legal department just made the lives of one of the most popular tag teams in the world more difficult. Perhaps.
According to an exclusive report from Pro Wrestling Sheet, the WWE’s legal department sent a cease and desist letter to the Young Bucks (Nick Jackson and Matt Jackson) over their long-time use of the “Too Sweet” hand gesture made famous by the nWo.
Videos by PopCulture.com
The letter was reportedly sent on Tuesday, one day after the Bucks and several members of the NJPW Bullet Club showed up outside of WWE RAW, doing a mock “invasion.” Due to that happening and getting a lot of attention on social media, the timing is sure interesting given the Bucks have been using the Too Sweet gesture and putting it on merchandise for a few years now.
According to the report, WWE legal has threatened the Bucks with $150,000 in damages if they don’t immediately stop selling merchandise and using the hand gesture in the ring, calling it WWE intellectual property. WWE also reportedly wants the Bucks to send a letter in writing that acknowledges they won’t use WWE intellectual property again.
According to sources, the Young Bucks haven’t decided yet if they are going to fight the allegations or not, though they are consulting with lawyers as of present.
WWE did move to trademark the Too Sweet hand gesture in 2015, and that story was covered extensively by the wrestling media at the time. It’s odd that they made the effort to trademark the gesture two years ago but are just now taking action. Perhaps they have only now been told that they can begin to do so.
Or perhaps it’s all just a bluff?
Abbey Arthur of Top Rope Press performed some research, and she found that WWE’s application to trademark the Too Sweet hand gesture back in 2015 is listed as “dead.” A quick search on Trademarkia lists the WWE’s trademark on Too Sweet as having been dead since December 3, 2015.
We’ll have to stay tuned to see what comes of this story, but with the Young Bucks being one of the biggest merchandise movers on the independent wrestling scene, there is sure to be some serious fallout from this story one way or another.
