Former WWE wrestler Rene Goguen (wrestling under the name Rene Dupree) sued the WWE Wednesday in a class action lawsuit filed in Connecticut federal court. The former WWE superstar is claiming he is owed royalties from the WWE Network and Netflix due to a clause in his contract which pre-dated the over the top platforms but stated he was entitled to royalties of “technology not yet created.”
Goguen is claiming breach of contract for failing to pay royalties, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment and violation of Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act.
Goguen believes his Booking Contract, which was attached to his Complaint, entitled him to WWE Network and Netflix licensee sales of WWE Video Products due to a vague clause which left open for him to be entitled to royalties for “technology not yet created.” He claims he was not paid these royalties.
The WWE told the Hollywood Reporter that Goguen signed a contract in 2011 that negates his ability to bring his claims.
Payout Perspective:
In all likelihood, the WWE will attempt to dismiss this case. If the WWE is correct, we might assume that Goguen signed an agreement that precluded him from filing this type of lawsuit as the WWE probably contemplated the clause might open itself up to royalties. The 2011 contract referred to by the WWE likely indicated he would not be entitled to any network royalties or any from WWE content on Netflix. The bigger issue might be how the WWE splits royalties among its current roster for the network. When C.M. Punk left, he claimed that many wrestlers did not know how the WWE would address royalties in light of the fact that some wrestlers made points off of PPV buys. With the almost extinction of PPV, its clear that royalties from the WWE would be big for wrestlers. We will see how Goguen’s case is handled and whether this raises any issues for WWE contracts moving forward.
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