Various: Cody’s Dusty Rhodes Trademark Rejected, New RAW Announcer, Indies

Cody Rhodes’ “Dusty Rhodes” Trademark Rejected

Cody Rhodes’ trademark application for “Dusty Rhodes” was recently rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, according to Pro Wrestling Sheet.

Ryan Satin reported that Cody’s initial application for his late father’s in-ring name was rejected due to the USPTO feeling it was too similar to the “Dustin Rhodes” trademark owned by his brother and it could cause potential trademark confusion.

Portion of the official statement from the USPTO:

“Here, the marks share one term, “RHODES”, and a highly similar term “DUSTY/DUSTIN”, and share the same overall commercial impression of that of a surname and given name, respectively. Given the high similarity in appearance, sound, and meaning of the marks, the marks are confusingly similar.”

It was also reported that Cody’s lawyer for the trademark filing recently stated that his client is currently working to resolve the issue in order to acquire the “Dusty Rhodes” trademark.

New Announcer Replacing Samoa Joe for WWE’s RAW Commentary Team

WWE is currently expected to announce a new member for RAW’s commentary team at the December 30th episode of RAW in Hartford, Connecticut, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s issue that this new announcer will be replacing Samoa Joe going forward for the RAW brand due Joe’s imminent return to the ring and the December 23rd episode being his last scheduled show for commentary duties.

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

AEW’s Excalibur, Kenny Omega, and WWE’s Xavier Woods were recent guest contributors to Giantbomb.com’s annual Top 10 games lists series.

New Japan Pro Wrestling generated a paid attendance of around 1,727 for their Road to Tokyo Dome event on December 21st in Tokyo, Japan, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This was Jushin Thunder Liger’s final show at the Korakuen Hall in his wrestling career.

Ring of Honor reportedly have recently given a “great offer” to Marty Scurll to entice him to sign a new deal with the company, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

ROH announced four new matches for the card of their Honor Reigns Supreme 2020 event on January 12th in Concord, North Carolina:
– Rey Horus vs. Andrew Everett
– Flip Gordon vs. Flamita
– Bandido vs. Alex Zayne
– LifeBlood (Mark Haskins & Tracy Williams) vs. Vincent Marseglia & Tyler Bateman

Major League Wrestling announced a new match for the card of their Zero Hour event on January 11th in North Richland Hills, Texas:
– Richard Holliday vs. Savio Vega