More Backstage RAW News: Devine/WWE, Trish Stratus Returns, More
The AM Law Daily has the latest details on the lawsuit between WWE and Scott Levy, Chris "Kanyon" Klucsartis and Mike Sanders. WWE filed a motion today, once again asking for a full dismissal of the lawsuit. Along with the motion, WWE's legal team provided 89-pages of motions and judgments from other cases of a similar nature. The WWE claims the following: "The wrestlers' contract explicitly says they are "independent contractors" who are not entitled to health coverage and other benefits, and that no claims the wrestlers make can trump those contracts. The Plaintiffs cannot escape the clear language of the Booking Contracts." Levy, Kanyon and Sanders are claiming the following: "The standard WWE contract is unfair, since the company demands full-time services akin to what employees provide, including extensive travel and a commitment to a huge number of shows and non-televised appearances." The Jerry McDevitt led WWE legal team is also stating that, "Claims are barred by a statute of limitations, since the wrestlers signed the initial deals more than six years ago." Both sides now wait on the judge to see if he will grant a full dismissal as asked by the WWE side.
As noted earlier, Johnny Devine was backstage at RAW and was scheduled to get a tryout prior to the show going live. We had actually reported about a month ago that Devine was scheduled for a tryout with WWE at the Toronto TV taping this week. Devine then emailed us and demanded that the post be removed and stated that there was no truth to it. He gave us a nasty attitude so we stuck to what we had heard and kept the report up. It obviously turned out to be true. Devine has also proved that he is a guy who can not be trusted and was never trusted by us in the first place. Maybe he was worried about it 'leaking' and pissing WWE officials off? If that was the case, he could have told us that and we would have removed the report so we would not have jeopardized anything. That was not the case though as he flat out lied and gave an attitude in the process. Therefore, we stuck by our original report.
Trish Stratus made her return to RAW in a surprise match teaming with John Cena against the team of Santino and Beth Phoenix. That was a one-time deal and it was a nice surprise to see her in an actual match. She had teased in interviews that she wanted to get her hands on Beth Phoenix and she has been getting that 'itch' to return as of late according to people close to her.