NWA Still In Dispute With AEW Over Shockwave Trademark

NWA and AEW remain in a dispute over competing trademarks to the term “Shockwave,” according to a new report. As you may recall, AEW filed a trademark back in September of 2024. AEW sought to create a new show under that name that has not as of yet come to life. The NWA filed an opposition in June over the trademark. The NWA’s argument at the time was that they have common law rights to the term dating back season one of NWA Shockwave airing in December of 2020.

Wrestlenomics reports that the dispute is ongoing and provides some more details. The report says that the NWA filed its application for a trademark on September 23rd, 2024. That was 17 days after AEW’s trademark. The NWA’s opposition claims that it has been using NWA Shockwave “continuously” since 2020. It also points out that NWA’s predecessors have used NWA Shockwave “for many years” before then.

The NWA’s lawyers wrote in their opposition that they sent AEW a legal letter demanding they abandon the AEW Shockwave trademark. NWA obtained their registration for NWA Shockwave in June, with AEW’s filing still active.

AEW filed its response to the NWA’s opposition on July 15th. The response denied the NWA’s claims and argued their own application should continue. AEW argues that NWA has not used Shockwave continuously and that the the trademarks are not confusingly similar. The argument is that the NWA would not be damaged by AEW’s trademark.

As of now, the dispute has not been resolved. Brandon Thurston reports that this could be a long and drawn out process.