Suck it, CM Punk

Rumor has it CM Punk's lawyers sent pretty letters to WWE jeopardizing the planned released of the video game.

WWE did this in return:

http://shop.wwe.com/CM-Punk/cmpunk,default,sc.html%22]http://shop.wwe.com/CM-Punk/cmpunk,default,sc.html[/URL

If, and from what I understand he actually hasn't filed anything, if he filed suit against WWE for his appearance in 2k15, he wouldn't have a leg to stand on since he walked out on his contract.

Punk's made a career off of unorthodox decisions.

RFSKannon wrote:If, and from what I understand he actually hasn't filed anything, if he filed suit against WWE for his appearance in 2k15, he wouldn't have a leg to stand on since he walked out on his contract.  

Punk owns the rights to all his trademarks and WWE stopped paying royalties to him, thus he sent them a threatening letter to pay him royalties. So, if WWE continued to not pay him what he was owed, he would have won in court if it went that far.

Yep...   one of the reasons why Vince likes to rename everyone in NXT. 

Surprised Punk was an exception.

Joe5150 wrote: Punk owns the rights to all his trademarks and WWE stopped paying royalties to him, thus he sent them a threatening letter to pay him royalties. So, if WWE continued to not pay him what he was owed, he would have won in court if it went that far.

Nope. It's in the contract, if any talent breaches their contract WWE has the ring to stop all payments and royalties as a result. It's well within their legal right to do so, since the game's content was decided and well underway while Punk was still a contracted talent.

Punk's lawsuit in no way jeopardizes the release of the video game. WWE stopped paying him royalties. He wants his royalties. People who aren;t even under contract get paid royalties when they appear on WWE DVDs and such.

Even though he walked out, he is probably still owed the money. Especially since he claims he "retired".

RFSKannon wrote:

Joe5150 wrote:  Punk owns the rights to all his trademarks and WWE stopped paying royalties to him, thus he sent them a threatening letter to pay him royalties. So, if WWE continued to not pay him what he was owed, he would have won in court if it went that far.

Nope.  It's in the contract, if any talent breaches their contract WWE has the ring to stop all payments and royalties as a result.   It's well within their legal right to do so, since the game's content was decided and well underway while Punk was still a contracted talent.

Normally that's the case...  But WWE doesn't own the CM Punk trademarks.  So in this case..  Punk has an argument.  I totally disagree with it because of the situation.  But yeah...

Swarles wrote:Punk's lawsuit in no way jeopardizes the release of the video game. WWE stopped paying him royalties. He wants his royalties. People who aren;t even under contract get paid royalties when they appear on WWE DVDs and such.

Even though he walked out, he is probably still owed the money. Especially since he claims he "retired".

I'd keep an eye on it..  Litigation, even in a pending stage, could absolutely delay the release pending how this plays out.

I'm pretty sure I read he only wants royalties for the video game. Didn't hear he wanted for like tshirts and stuff.

Stone Cold mentioned how WWE stopped paying him royalties as soon as he walked out before that infamous Raw in 2002. The WWE were able to do so because of how their contracts are structured.

Legally, they could have done the same with Punk as soon as he walked out as well. Based on the wrestling rumor mill, they didn't do so because they were hopeful they could still mend the relationship before his contract expired in July. Since that clearly didn't happen, this is the fallout of that situation.

This probably won't have much affect on the video game though, since Punk's role in the game was already established and the game was in development before his contract had officially expired.

SBR wrote:I'm pretty sure I read he only wants royalties for the video game. Didn't hear he wanted for like tshirts and stuff.

I would seriously doubt that.

If you remember that interview he did with MMA reporter Ariel Helwani a few days before the Royal Rumble, you'll notice how he answered a question regarding the Network.

He seemed frustrated over how the money from the PPVs was going to be distributed to him, compared to when they were previously only available as Pay-Per-View events.

That dvd is a steal at $3.

Slayer wrote:

SBR wrote:I'm pretty sure I read he only wants royalties for the video game. Didn't hear he wanted for like tshirts and stuff.

I would seriously doubt that.

If you remember that interview he did with MMA reporter Ariel Helwani a few days before the Royal Rumble, you'll notice how he answered a question regarding the Network.

He seemed frustrated over how the money from the PPVs was going to be distributed to him, compared to when they were previously only available as Pay-Per-View events.

From Dave in last weeks newsletter:

Attorneys for C.M. Punk sent a 22 page letter to WWE over royalties (I believe WWE stopped sending Punk royalty money over their claim of a breach of contract) and use of his likeness, particularly him being featured in the video game (the roster of the game was put together before he quit the promotion even though it was just announced two weeks ago).

I guess I read it wrong and it wasn't just video game stuff, just video game stuff in particular.

I think CM Punk is a massive joke