A TNA Wrestling star has filed a lawsuit against AEW, Tony Khan and WWE Superstar CM Punk.
“The Hollywood Hunk” Ryan Nemeth filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court against AEW, Khan and Punk on claims of assault, breach of contract, violation of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and intentional interference with prospective advantage.
Filed on February 14, Nemeth is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
From the filing:
Ryan Nemeth is a successful actor, comedian and stuntman. Nemeth also followed his older brother Nic’s career and has established himself as a star performer on the professional wrestling circuit. Nemeth was under contract with AEW. AEW is owned by Shahid and Tony Khan. Shahid Khan is the owner of the NFL franchise Jacksonville Jaguars. When his son Tony managed to alienate most everyone within the Jaguars organization (including star NFL players), Tony was moved to a leadership role in the Khan family-owned Fulham Football Club. Tony ended up mismanaging Fulham, leading to multiple lawsuits against the Club. Since he was a child, Tony loved professional wrestling and had an obsession with certain wrestlers. The Khan family formed AEW to provide Tony with something to do, safely away from the family’s other ventures. Tony serves as AEW’s Chief Executive Officer.
Phil Brooks was another wrestler under contract with AEW and a member of the AEW management team. Tony had a deep fascination with Brooks. Brooks undertook a campaign to terrorize and intimidate Plaintiff, including physical assault. AEW and Tony Khan did nothing to protect Ryan Nemeth and other wrestling performers from despicable conduct on the part of Brooks. AEW turned a blind eye to Brooks’ conduct because of Tony’s deep admiration for Brooks and because he was their most popular wrestling performer. At Brooks and Tony’s insistence, AEW and Tony Khan have undertaken an effort to “black ball” Nemeth so we can never again work in the wrestling business
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14. At all relevant times mentioned herein, Brooks was also an employee of AEW, serving a role in executive leadership.
15. In early 2023, Brooks assaulted and battered two fellow wrestlers known by the stage names Matt and Nick Jackson. Brooks is known to have an uncontrollable temper and often lashes out in violent tirades against others. Thus, Defendants were on notice regarding Brooks’ violent proclivities.
16. Rather than removing Brooks from the AEW roster of wrestlers, Tony Khan made the decision to merely suspend Brooks for a few months. Brooks is one of AEW’s most popular wrestlers and Khan did not feel that Brooks could be removed without a substantial loss in profit for AEW. Further, Khan has a very deep personal affinity for Brooks. Khan made the conscious decision to keep Brooks as a part of AEW although he knew that Brooks is prone to lashing out in violent episodes and to injure others.
17. Beyond his deep feelings for Brooks, Khan represented to AEW executives and wrestlers that the TBS network had produced the “AEW Collision” show contingent upon Brooks involvement as the show’s star. This was all the more reason for Khan to keep Brooks, in spite of his violent propensities.
18. During his suspension, for unknown reasons, Brooks made it known that he despised Nemeth. Nemeth did nothing to Brooks whatsoever, but Brooks made it well-known that he was angry with Nemeth. Brooks has a notorious history for taking violent action against others for no reason.
19. On April 16, 2023, Nemeth contacted executives within AEW to tell his employer that he was worried Brooks would come back to the wrestling circuit following his suspension and assault Nemeth.
20. On June 21, 2023, following Brooks’ return to the wrestling circuit, he assaulted Nemeth in the male talent locker room. In a menacing manner, Brooks shouted at Nemeth, “Do we have a fucking problem? Do we need to step outside and handle this like men?” Nemeth was cornered by Brooks and did everything he could in order to de-escalate the situation.
21. The next day, Nemeth was contacted by Tony Schivaone and other executives from AEW to explain what happened. Nemeth calmly and factually explained that he was attacked by Brooks in the locker room.
22. Following the assault, nothing happened to Brooks as far as punishment from AEW.
23. It is well known in the wrestling industry that “benching” a wrestler is a form of punishment. That is, the wrestling performer is not scheduled for a match and thus is not paid. Benching a wrestler is a customary manner of punishing a wrestler.
24. Following the incident with Brooks, Nemeth greatly feared being benched by AEW. Nemeth spoke with AEW’s in-house counsel and attorneys from Latham & Watkins (outside counsel for AEW). All of the attorneys promised that Nemeth would not be benched.
25. Following his June 22 conversation with Tony Schivaone, et al., Nemeth was not booked for a match for over two months.
26. Because Nemeth was not booked for matches, his income stream from AEW dried up. More importantly, his popularity and marketability faded from being absent from the professional wrestling circuit.
27. On June 17, 2023, Nemeth again contacted AEW’s legal department to complain that he was being punished for doing nothing. It was then that Nemeth discovered the real reason why he was being benched. Brooks had insisted upon this.
28. Because Tony Khan had such a deep admiration for Brooks (bordering on an obsession), Khan went along with Brooks’ desires to ruin Nemeth’s career.
29. On August 12, 2023, Nemeth was finally booked for an event in Greensboro, North Carolina.
30. On the morning of August 12, Nemeth was walking through the hotel lobby to board a shuttle to the sports arena where the wrestling match would take place. He saw Brooks. Brooks immediately took out his phone and began to text.
31. A moment after that text was sent, Nemeth received a text from AEW supervisor Pat Buck saying that he needed to speak with Nemeth as soon as he got to the arena.
32. Upon arriving at the arena, Nemeth sought out Pat Buck. Buck told Nemeth that he needed to leave the arena immediately and that travel would be arranged for him to fly out on that same day.
33. Nemeth was embarrassed and humiliated in front of other wrestlers who witnessed him being kicked out of the arena. More importantly, fans observed him leaving the arena. Pictures were taken and the expulsion became “viral” on social media. This humiliation caused irreparable damage the marketability and reputation of Nemeth.
34. This entire episode was engineered by Brooks. Brooks demanded that Nemeth be told to leave and that he would be flown-out of Greensboro immediately. Khan, for his part, went along with Brooks out of his deep admiration.
35. On August 15, 2023, Nemeth contacted AEW’s legal group and complained about being ejected from the event at the direction of Brooks. AEW lawyers were themselves stunned and could offer no explanation for the conduct of Brooks and Khan.
36. On November 18, 2024 Nemeth wrestled for the last time for AEW.
37. Nemeth continued to follow-up with AEW’s legal department, in the hope of trying to resolve this situation and to avoid further conflict. In a bizarre email, AEW attorney Chris Peck reached out and threatened legal action against Nemeth and accused him of employing a “ghost writer” in his emails.
38. On November 25, 2024 Brooks left AEW to wrestle for the organizations main competitor, WWE.
39. Khan was heartbroken by the departure of Brooks, his idol and that he adored in every way.
40. Khan was furious with Nemeth. Khan believes that Brooks left AEW because of Nemeth.
41. The Defendants have embarked upon a campaign to “blackball” Nemeth from professional wrestling. Specifically, Tony Khan blames Nemeth for Brooks leaving AEW and has used his significant resources to make sure that Nemeth can never again make a living in wrestling.
42. The conduct of each of the Defendants was malicious in that Defendants intended to cause injury to the Plaintiff. Defendants acted willfully and with a conscious disregard for the rights of the Plaintiff.
