AEW & NWA in Dispute Over “Shockwave” Trademark

As noted before, AEW filed a trademark for “AEW: Shockwave” in September of 2024 that was rumored for a while to be for a new potential wrestling-related show. The National Wrestling Alliance had filed opposition to AEW’s trademark this past June over claims of common law rights dating back to 2020 for their usage of the term in wrestling despite their trademark filing came after AEW’s filing.

Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that attorneys for the NWA wrote in their opposition filing that the company had sent AEW a legal letter on September 26, 2024 demanding that AEW abandon their application and agree in writing to not used the name or any variations that could cause confusion in the marketplace.

Thurston reported that NWA had obtained the registration for their “NWA Shockwave” trademark this past June but AEW’s filing remained active.

AEW reportedly filed a formal answer to the NWA’s opposition on July 15th denying the NWA’s claims and argued that their application should still proceed. AEW’s attorneys reportedly argued that the NWA had not used “Shockwave” continuously since 2020 as they had claimed in their opposition filing. AEW reportedly also claimed that the trademarks are not confusing similar despite both using the “Shockwave” term and both possibly being applied to wrestling programming. AEW reportedly also denied that the NWA would be damaged by AEW’s use of the name.

Thurston reported that the trademark dispute between both companies is still on-going.