AEW: Next Week’s Rampage to be Preempted, Nick Wayne Debut Update, Luchasaurus Mask Lawsuit Update

Apr 11, 2023

Next Week’s AEW Rampage Show to Air on Saturday, March 22nd

Next week’s AEW Rampage show is currently scheduled to be preempted from its normal date of Friday, March 21st to a new date of Saturday, March 22nd based on TNT’s schedule listing on their website.

Next week’s preempted Rampage show is also currently listed to have a start time of 10PM EST on the network.

The official reason was revealed to be due to TNT’s upcoming 2023 NHL Playoff commitments on the network.

Nick Wayne AEW Debut Status Update

As noted before, Nick Wayne is currently scheduled to make his official debut for AEW at their July 12th AEW Dynamite show in Saskatoon, Canada.

The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that his sources stated that while AEW officials currently have Wayne’s debut scheduled to take place on this date, his debut match will not involve him defending his DEFY Championship.

Meltzer reported that Strickland clarified the issue stating that the reports of his upcoming match against Wayne in AEW is not entirely true. Strickland reportedly stated that he never mentioned during his promo at DEFY’s show this past Saturday that his match with Wayne would be for Wayne’s title.

Luchasaurus Mask Lawsuit Update

As noted before, AEW and Luchasaurus are currently dealing with a lawsuit filed against them over allegations of copyright infringement involving Luchasaurus’ mask design.

Fightful’s Jeremy Lambert reported that the presiding judge approved a motion filed by Composite Effects (CFX) on March 24th requesting to add an amended complaint to their lawsuit against AEW and Luchasaurus. This reportedly was in response to AEW filing a motion on March 21st requesting for five out of the six counts to be dismissed by the court.

Lawyers for Luchasaurus reportedly filed a motion on April 7th requesting for CFX’s amended lawsuit to be dismissed. In the filing, Luchasaurus ‘ lawyers claimed that CFX’s amended lawsuit fails to plausibly allege that the modified versions of the Luchasaurus mask are not “substantially similar” to CFX’s Viper Silicone Mask design that they own under copyright.

In the filing, photographic evidence was presented to show the differences between the two masks and countering CFX’s claim of them being “substantially similar.”

Portion of Luchasaurus lawyers’ filing:

It is evident from these pictures that the Luchasaurus Mask differs from the Copyright Work in much more than simply the addition of horns. Most obviously, the Luchasaurus Mask is an entirely different shape, covering only the front part of the face above the mouth, rather than covering the full head with a cowl extending to the shoulders.