More Details on Why WWE Sent A Legal Letter To The Young Bucks, Fallout From The Bullet Club’s RAW ‘Invasion’

– It was reported yesterday that WWE has issued a cease and desist order to the Young Bucks which demands that they stop using the “Too Sweet” hand gesture. WWE issued the order after finding out that the Young Bucks regularly use the hand gesture in ROH/NJPW and also use it on merchandise. WWE claims to own the copyright for the gesture (due to their purchase of WCW’s intellectual property) and wants the Young Bucks to sign a written agreement vowing to not use the hand gesture again. WWE has warned them that if they continue to use their intellectual property, they are risking facing $150,000 or more in damages, any profits made on the sale of those items and legal fees.

On Monday, Bullet Club (Cody, Adam Page, The Young Bucks, & Marty Scurll) along with Brandi appeared outside of the Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario after doing a signing at a Hot Topic store in the area earlier that day. The “invasion” was filmed for their “Being The Elite” series on YouTube as a continuation of recent storylines they had been doing on the show. The story on the web show was that WWE sent them cease and desist letters telling them to stop staying “fuck the revival” and “suck it.”

Part of the story is that there is a mysterious “WWE Stooge” following them, always watching for infractions. Part of the story was the Bullet Club going to RAW to get Cody’s last name back, that Marty Scurll was no longer being able to use his umbrella gimmick because WWE’s Jack Gallagher “had stolen the idea” so he wanted that back, The Young Bucks would get their catchphrases back, and the stooge kidnapped Adam Page ahead of Death Before Dishonor. This was all done in a style that was an intentional parody of the famous DX invasion of Nitro years ago. They also made fun of WWE for needing to give out free tickets to get fans to go to their shows, something that apparently really upset WWE.

According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE’s cease & desist letter was sent the day after the “invasion” was shot. WWE is specifically claiming intellectual property violations for The Bucks’ “Too Sweet Journey” DVD, the “Too Sweet T-shirts,” photos of The Bucks with the “Too Sweet symbol” and their “Too Sweet women’s leggings.”

WWE never registered ownership of the drawing of the “Kliq hand gesture” until 2015. The hand signal came back into popularity when Finn Balor started Bullet Club in NJPW along with Karl Anderson, bad Luck Fale and Tama Tonga. The Young Bucks started marketing the symbol in 2013, but getting into a legal battle with WWE over the symbol would likely be very costly for them.