Gangrel Thinks He Pissed Off Vince McMahon With Trademark Win
On the latest episode of his podcast Fangin N Bangin, Gangrel spoke about the details surrounding how he was able to own the trademark to his name after spending a few years with the WWE. The former Brood member also spoke about WWE getting hit with lawsuits during his entire time as Gangrel.
"They brought me back to do an anniversary RAW or a battle royal, I did that, and then the next morning, again, boom, lawsuits from a different company," Gangrel said. "Then it went to court and the judge, he pretty much took the gavel and hammered down and said, 'if I ever see this case again in court, everybody's in trouble. The person that's wrestling as Gangrel is Gangrel.'
"Because Gangrel was a clan, not a vampire but a vampire clan, but whatever. I had to portray the character for all this time. But still, you couldn't use it in certain ways, and WWE kind of abandoned all hope on that name, they just pressed it to the side. Somewhere in the process, there were some things that weren't filled, and I ended up getting the rights to Gangrel.
"Its trademark is registered everywhere for sports entertainment, clothing lines, action figures, for whatever. I have it now, I have the trademark registry to Gangrel. I think stuff like that pisses Vince McMahon off personally and in a corporate sense. To avoid all of that, they just give people their own names, they just messed up on that one.
"They don't want you to take what they've spent three years investing, which is kind of crappy on their part but it's just business, and go somewhere else. They want you to have to go change your name. It's just a business thing for them. I gotta stay on it and keep filing things."
Gangrel continued to talk about the trademark he's had on his name and how WWE was able to take over the rights to his entrance theme that he originally had after leaving WWE.
Edge came out to The Brood's entrance theme at SummerSlam last year on his way to the ring to face Seth Rollins. When that SummerSlam entrance happened, Gangrel detailed how that entrance cost him an appearance in AEW. The former WWE superstar spoke about Edge using The Brood music last year and revealed the backstory surrounding why they were allowed to do so.
"In MLW, I'm Gangrel, no questions, no problems," Gangrel said. "They changed my music. The music is different, it's got a different hard-hitting theme to it.
"I think WWE probably went back, they didn't have the rights [to The Brood song], the guy who did the music originally [did], and when they let him go, he had the rights to that and that's how I was able to use it at the schools, advertising stuff. WWE must have circled back when Edge was doing the [vampire stuff] and got that music. I'm not 100% sure but just guessing. There's so much I don't even understand. Anything, numbers, legal, all that stuff makes me nervous and spinny."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Fangin N Bangin with Gangrel with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.