Kevin Kelly & Tate Twins’ Appeal Of Arbitration Order In AEW Lawsuit Dismissed

Kevin Kelly and The Tate Twins have lost their appeal of the order to take their lawsuit against AEW to arbitration. As previously reported, Kelly and the Tates filed an appeal in July of the judge’s ruling which upheld the the arbitration clauses in their talent contracts. Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reports that the 11th Circuit Court dismissed the appeal on Wednesday, meaning that the case will go to arbitration as AEW requested.

The ruling notes that because the original case was stayed and not dismissed, an appeal may not be taken.

The lawsuit was originally filed in September 6th of last year and sought to void the three men’s arbitration clauses in their contract. It was also seeking certify a class-action lawsuit, arguing that AEW is misclassifying its talent as independent contractors rather than employees. Kelly is also alleging Riccaboni and AEW of defamation in regard comments by Riccaboni about Kelly’s support of Sound of Freedom, while the Tates accuse Tony Khan of defamation in regard to claims that they no-showed events.

11th Circuit dismisses the appeal brought by Kevin Kelly, Brandon & Brent Tate, who sought review of the district court order that sent their case to arbitration.

The appellate judges ruled that because the case was stayed and is not dismissed, they can't review the decision. pic.twitter.com/JtP8MIYnvg

— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) October 1, 2025