There have been a number of famous lawsuits in pro wrestling, many of which involve the WWE. Some of the biggest of these include a lawsuit with WCW during the Monday Night War, a big class-action suit over concussions, and numerous battles with the World Wildlife Fund that would ultimately necessitate the World Wrestling Federation changing its name to World Wrestling Entertainment.

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But there are many big wrestling-related lawsuits that did not involve the WWE, but do involve major promotions like WCW, Ring of Honor, and TNA (now known as Impact Wrestling), not to mention the world of indie wrestling.

10 DDP vs. Jay-Z

Diamond Dallas Page

While fans balked at WWE going after The Young Bucks and The Elite for their use of the “too sweet” hand gesture, it wasn’t the first time a gesture in wrestling resulted in a lawsuit. In 2005, Diamond Dallas Page filed a lawsuit against rapper Jay-Z and his label Roc-A-Fella Records over Jay-Z’s use of a hand gesture not unlike DDP’s “diamond cutter” gesture. The two parties ended up settling and Page went on to trademark the gesture in 2010. This wouldn’t be the last time DDP would go the legal route -- in 2010, he filed a similar lawsuit against the 3OH!3 for their use of a similar-looking gesture.

9 Billy Corgan vs. TNA

Billy Corgan in Impact

The backstage history of TNA with regards to its ownership is a veritable saga, full of ups and downs. At one point Smashing Pumpkins and wrestling fan Billy Corgan got involved, helping bail out the company financially as well as becoming its president in 2016. But soon that relationship soured and Corgan sued TNA, alleging that his loans to the company were unpaid. In 2017, Anthem Sports became TNA’s new owner, and came to a settlement with Corgan.

8 Hollywood Hogan vs. Vince Russo

Hogan and Jeff Jarrett

One of the weirdest pro wrestling lawsuits actually spun out of kayfabe. The 2000 WCW pay-per-view Bash at the Beach featured a worked shoot incident during a match where writer Vince Russo came out to order WCW World Champ Jeff Jarett to lie down for challenger Hollywood Hogan. Hogan responded by cutting a promo about WCW’s poor creative ideas, took the easy win, and stormed off, after which Vince Russo took the mic to fire Hogan onscreen.

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This would actually be Hogan’s final appearance for WCW, as the situation got real when he filed a lawsuit for defamation of character, alleging that his firing was legitimate.

7 Joey Ryan vs Almost Everyone

Joey Ryan

In 2020, #SpeakingOut resulted in a number of notable pro wrestlers being outed for alleged sexual misconduct, the most notable being Joey Ryan, the indie wrestling journeyman whose often comedic in-ring antics gained a lot of viral attention. Denying all claims, Ryan went as far as suing his various accusers for libel and accusation, some of which were dismissed before Ryan had a change of heart and dropped the rest. Alongside all that, Ryan also has a lawsuit going against his former employer, Impact Wrestling, for breach of contract due to his sudden firing in the wake of the accusations.

6 WCW Wrestlers vs. WCW

Bobby Walker in WCW

In 2001, 10 former WCW talents -- nine black performers including Bobby Walker and Hardbody Harrison, as well as Sonny Onoo -- filed a lawsuit against WCW for racial discrimination. Material from the lawsuit is available online, which features countless racist jokes including a crude Chinese takeout menu as well as loads of deeply offensive comments about non-white wrestlers’ abilities as performers and as their value as box office draws, not to mention the use of racial slurs. Eventually, WWE -- who bought WCW after the lawsuit was filed -- decided to settle out of court with the wrestlers.

5 Jim Cornette vs. G-Raver

Jim Cornette Authority Figure

A veteran of the wrestling biz, Jim Cornette is a controversial figure whose frank, often trollish comments about modern pro wrestling tend to make waves in online discussion. Among his many targets are hardcore wrestlers, whom he has no respect for. In response, Game Changer Wrestling star G-Raver released T-shirts with an illustration of Cornette’s face getting stabbed, with the words “F--- JIM CORNETTE” emblazoned on it. Cornette tried to sue G-Raver over it but lost on the preliminary injunction on the basis that the T-shirts qualified as free speech and parody, especially due to Cornette’s status as a public figure.

4 Jeff Jarrett vs. TNA

Jeff Jarrett merging TNA and Global Force Wrestling

While Jeff Jarrett co-founded TNA with his father Jerry in 2002, the younger Jarrett left the company in 2014 and founded a new promotion, Global Force Wrestling. The year 2017 saw Jarrett return to TNA as the two companies began to merge, with TNA adopting the GFW brand.

RELATED: A History Of TNA Wrestling's Ownership, Explained

That would come to an end later that year, with Jarett filing a lawsuit against Anthem Sports for copyright infringement in 2018, alleging that they used footage from pre-TNA Global Force shows without permission. Various circumstances would result in the case being declared a mistrial in 2020, but the two parties would come to a settlement in 2021.

3 Kelly Klein and Joey Mercury vs. Ring of Honor

Kelly Klein and Joey Mercury

Late 2019 saw Ring of Honor publicly come under fire from former backstage trainer/agent Joey Mercury for myriad issues including concussion protocol, with Women’s Division star Kelly Klein supporting Mercury’s claims.

As a result of the whistleblowing, Klein was reportedly fired -- while still their Women’s Champion and while dealing with a concussion. In 2021, both Klein and Mercury fired lawsuits against ROH, with Klein claiming breach of contract, discrimination, harassment, and an unsafe work environment, among others.

2 CM Punk vs. Colt Cabana

CM Punk and Colt Cabana podcast interview

This one is interesting because it spun out of a WWE lawsuit. In 2015, WWE’s doctor sued CM Punk and Colt Cabana for defamation over comments Punk made on Cabana’s podcast the previous year. While the jury ruled in favor of the wrestlers, Cabana ended up suing Punk, claiming that Punk agreed to pay Cabana’s legal fees from the WWE lawsuit, but reneged. This resulted in Punk countersuing Cabana for half the cost of legal fees, but both parties agreed to dismiss their cases with prejudice.

1 Matt Hardy vs. TNA

Broken Matt Hardy

In 2016, Matt Hardy and TNA generated a lot of buzz with the whole “Broken Universe” storyline, particularly with the “Final Deletion” cinematic match between Matt and his brother Jeff Hardy. But after leaving TNA in 2017, the brothers showed up in Ring of Honor, after which Anthem (TNA’s owner) issued a Cease & Desist to keep them from further capitalizing on the concept. This led to a legal battle over ownership of the Broken Universe, with the Hardys alleging that they had full creative control over the story, with their own time and money being invested in the segments with no actual help from the promotion. The argument proved compelling and, in 2018, Matt Hardy acquired all the trademarks from TNA, which decided to let wrestlers retain rights to their gimmicks from then on.

NEXT: The Saga of Broken Matt Hardy, Explained