In a situation that can only be described as odd, the WWE isn’t letting a very popular T-shirt store sell his own shirts. Pro Wrestling Tees has wrestling stores for many WWE legends, but the few who have contracts with Pro Wrestling Tees have ties to the WWE. Stone Cold Steve Austin is one who still works for the company.
Even if it’s part-time, sometimes the merchandise contracts superstars sign with the WWE are exclusive, which basically means that they can’t sell merchandise anywhere else. One WWE legend is having a big problem with the WWE and its merchandise policies.
OneHourTees, the company who owns Pro Wrestling Tees, reported on Twitter that Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart is being forced to stop selling his T-shirts by the WWE.
WWE says Jim Neidhart cant sell his own shirts. They don’t own his name nor Hart Foundation, YET HE CANNOT SELL HIS OWN TEES? So Classy WWE
— OneHourTees (@OneHourTees) September 29, 2015
Later on, One Hour Tees claimed the WWE has exclusive rights to Neidhart’s merchandise and likeness. The online T-shirt store noted that Neidhart doesn’t have any merchandise on the WWE store. CM Punk and Colt Cabana, who have contracts with Pro Wrestling Tees, commented on the situation.
Bullies! https://t.co/El4Rzc8LGQ
— Colt Cabana (@ColtCabana) September 29, 2015
Allegedly! https://t.co/Lzi0cDCzfL
— Coach (@CMPunk) September 29, 2015
It’s all going to come down to what WWE wants to do. In the last 24 hours, Pro Wrestling Tees hasn’t commented on the situation. Earlier this morning, they made a statement that puts it all into perspective and explains why the WWE may not be able to do what they are doing.
“Sorry, Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart t-shirts are no longer available on ProWrestlingTees.com.
We received a notice from WWE saying that we were violating intellectual property rights by selling Jim Neidhart shirts on our website. First off, we don’t sell anything on our site, the wrestlers do. Our website is a portal for independent and retired pro wrestlers to sell their own merchandise to hundreds and thousands of fans worldwide. We then simply print for them and ship them to their customers. Everything is contracted through the wrestlers. They sign contracts with us taking all claim to their property and the rights to their designs. 90% of the time they provide their own artwork or get final say in the designs they sell. Every aspsect from the shirt color, to the title of the product is decided by the wrestler or their estate.
After doing more research we found that WWE didn’t own the trademark on the name Jim Neidhart nor Hart Foundation. After explaining this to their lawyer, we were then told that Jim has an ‘exclusive merchandise agreement’ with WWE. Exclusive merchandise agreements are understandable, when you’re selling merchandise! Where is all the Jim the Anvil merchandise? We’ve never seen a Jim “The Anvil” t-shirt ever. Maybe one of him and Bret Hart together, but never solo.
WWE continuously blocks retired pro wrestlers from selling merchandise on the internet. Not only Pro Wrestling Tees, but other websites as well. These wrestlers have fans that want to show their appreciation for them but they aren’t allow to because WWE says they have the ‘merchandise rights’ to them. If WWE has these rights then use them. It’s simple. There is no reason they shouldn’t allow Jim to have extra money in his pocket. There is no competition here, because they aren’t selling Anvil’s t-shirts. Being under a WWE legends contract is understandable, but why is Jim in an ‘exclusive merchandise contract’ with no merchandise? If they aren’t going to allow him to sell his own merchandise through our web portal then at least sell shirts for him through the WWE shop.
#RespectTheLegends
It’s unclear if WWE did the proper thing by blocking Pro Wrestling Tees of selling Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart’s T-shirts. As they noted in their statement that it’s the wrestlers who sell the merchandise. Pro Wrestling Tees is only a portal for the WWE legends to sell the T-shirts, jackets, etc. WWE should put out a statement soon on what is going to happen. With the low ratings, this is the last thing the WWE wants to deal with.
[Images via business2community.com, 411mania.com and pinterest.com]