Dismissal of WWE royalties lawsuit could lead to new Network content

[Ricky Smarks]

Buff Bagwell and Raven’s WWE royalties lawsuit has been dismissed, so we might be getting WCW Thunder on the Network!

Multiple sources are reporting that the lawsuits between Marcus "Buff" Bagwell and Scott "Raven" Levy and WWE were dismissed yesterday (Dec. 7). According to Chris Harrington, laywers for Bagwell and Levy requested a delay in late November because parties were discussing a “potential dismissal”. That’s often an indication of a potential settlement.

The plaintiffs were essentially suing to get royalties from WWE Network. Bagwell and Levy’s deals required the company to pay out based on revenue from DVDs on which they featured, so they believed they should be compensated for Network subscriptions which were eating into DVD sales. A win for Bagwell and Levy’s side would have opened the doors for all wrestlers to make a similar claim. A settlement here would seem to close that door, at least for now.

What it does put back on the table is the addition of WWE Sunday Night Heat and WCW Thunder to the streaming service. PWInsider’s sources told them those shows were prepped and ready to launch around when the suit was filed in August of 2016, but were pulled back because Bagwell and Levy featured on them.

So good news if you want to see those shows for $9.99. Maybe less good news for the talents who worked them and their hopes of seeing a fraction of a cent of your subscription fee.

Fantastic news. Best of luck to Raven and Bagwell in their future endeavors, but bring on them Thunders and Heat.

 

[Deezy]

Pffft....if they own your IP, you're fucked....Bagwell and Raven showed that because they own theirs.

Streaming platform doesn't pay as much as traditional royalty platforms. ...ask anyone on Spotify.

If I was WWE I'd say sign our legends contract or you only get 10% of what our signed guys do and fork over your IPs for a yearly sum and live off that until there's a new platform to fight about if they live thar long.