WWE: Logan Paul on Crown Jewel Match, WWE 24/7 Title Defunct, Randy Orton’s Tattoos Lawsuit Update

Logan Paul Comments on His Match with Roman Reigns at WWE Crown Jewel 2022

A recent episode of the ImPAULsive podcast featured co-host Logan Paul giving his thoughts on his recent match against Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship at this past Saturday’s WWE Crown Jewel 2022 event.

“They [Paul’s ImPAULsive co-hosts George Janko and Mike Majlak] handed me the phone that I filmed me frog splashing Roman through the table and honestly, I’ll take that L on the chin because I don’t care. I don’t care because that video was fucking awesome.

I would argue, for the WWE fans, that I only lost because I was trying to save Jake’s life.”

Paul also stated that WWE had required his podcast co-hosts Janko and Majlak to undergo and pass physicals in order for them to be medically cleared to participate in the match.

“WWE made them do physicals and all the tests necessary to get them cleared to participate in the match in Saudi Arabia. The loss hurts, but they are absolutely fine because the WWE does take care of them.”

Co-host Majlak praised “The Hurricane” Shane Helms for the training he gave to him for the match.

“World class organization. I cannot believe that I was trained by some of the royalty of WWE. Shane, Hurricane Shane has trained some of the greatest sports athletes in the space ever.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

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WWE 24/7 Championship Officially Defunct Following Monday’s RAW Show

This past Monday’s WWE RAW show featured a WWE 24/7 Championship match between Nikki Cross and champion Dana Brooke, which was won by Cross. Following the match, Cross was involved in a backstage segment with Damage CTRL and nonchalantly tossed the belt to the nearest trash bin.

Nikki Cross just disposed of the 24/7 Title backstage on #WWERaw! 😲 pic.twitter.com/2kQb7Ur7jh

— WWE (@WWE) November 8, 2022

Cross recently commented on Twitter about the reason for her actions with the 24/7 title during this past Monday’s show.

Il do whatever I want with it. Dump it on the Floor, inside the trash, outside in a dump, an incinerator…..bury the thing in a graveyard.

Please, by all means, try and argue with me, try to stop me. I welcome it please.

Hehehehehehehe

honestly I won’t bite 😈 https://t.co/49XDVPaKT9

— Nicola Glencross (@WWENikkiASH) November 8, 2022

In regards to the current status of the WWE 24/7 Championship, Fightful’s Jeremy Lambert reported that WWE recently updated their official website listing the title as now being defunct and removed from the list of current active champions in the company.

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WWE, 2K Games, & Others Reportedly Seeking New Trial for Randy Orton Tattoo Lawsuit

As noted before, tattoo artist Catherine Alexander had sued WWE and Take-Two Interactive in regards to allegations of copyright infringement over her tattoos inked for Randy Orton that have been shown in WWE’s video game series. This lawsuit was eventually ruled in favor of Alexander by a jury this past October.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that WWE, 2K Games, and the other defendants in the lawsuit are currently seeking a new trial based on recent court records.

Johnson reported that a motion was filed by the defendants of this lawsuit on October 31st to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, East St. Louis Division asking for the decision of the jury trial to be thrown out and a new trial to be ordered. In the filing, WWE and others reportedly are asking for a judgement as a matter of law and if that should fail, for a new trial to be ordered on “the issues of fair use, waiver, estoppel, and license under Federal Rule 59.”

This filing reportedly is also arguing that the “ultimate question of fair use” in regards to the status of Orton’s tattoos in WWE video games should be “for the Court to decide, not the jury. Based on the admitted and undisputed facts and consistent with both Supreme Court and Seventh Circuit law, this is precisely a scenario in which fair use applies.”

This filing also argues that their evidence shows consumers did not but WWE 2K series video games over Orton’s tattoos and their purpose for in including them in their games are different from Alexander’s purpose in creating them. It was also argued that “tattoos are bound up with the rights of the individuals on whom they are inked, and unlike paintings or other artwork, are permanent parts of a person’s body. This makes them far from the core of what copyright law is designed to protect. Further, these particular Tattoos were copied from pre-existing sources and used common tropes, making them not creative, and were inked on a famous wrestler on whom they are regularly observed in public.”

This filing also argued that the “Defendants’ use did not harm the market for the Tattoos, because, as Plaintiff’s testimony showed, there is no market for licensing the Tattoos in video games. In fact, there is a public benefit from allowing tattooed people to show freely and allow others to show their bodies. All four factors thus favor a finding of fair use, and Defendants are entitled to judgment on this issue as a matter of law.”

WWE and others also argued that Alexander:

“…closed her case-in-chief without presenting legally sufficient evidence to prove actual damages or disgorgement of profits, on which she bore the burden of proof. With regard to actual damages, Plaintiff failed to articulate any measure of actual damages that was not based on undue speculation.

Plaintiff specifically did not offer any evidence of a decrease in value of the copyrighted works, the profits she would have made without the infringement, or what a willing buyer would have paid to obtain a license from Plaintiff for Defendants’ use in WWE 2K. In fact, Plaintiff admitted she could not identify any business or clients that she lost due to Mr. Orton’s tattoos. As a result, Plaintiff’s counsel invited the jury in his closing to speculate about what actual damages Plaintiff might have suffered. That is not evidence, and no reasonable jury could have awarded any actual damages in this case, because there was no evidence for it to do so. With regard to disgorgement, as the jury recognized, Plaintiff failed to present any evidence of a causal nexus between the alleged infringement and her claim form Defendants’ profits.

There is no evidence in the record that anyone bought WWE 2K for the Tattoos, and in fact, all of the evidence in the record indicates the opposite. Although the jury’s verdict shows that it recognized no such causal nexus existed, the lack of any proof whatsoever further warrants judgment as a matter of law in favor of Defendants. Moreover, although Defendants do not believe Plaintiff is entitled to a new trial, if Plaintiff requests one and the Court grants it, Defendants respectfully request that the new trial include all of Defendants’ defenses, including (1) fair use; (2) waiver; (3) estoppel; and (4) license. Not only is the fair use verdict against the weight of the evidence, but to the extent  Plaintiff is permitted to retry her damages case, Defendants should be able to submit additional evidence on these defenses.”