Vince Versus: The Court Cases Vince McMahon Lost

Brian Damage

The CEO of WWE Vincent Kennedy McMahon has faced his fair share of legal battles over his career. For the most part, McMahon was able to win or settle many cases which looked like certain he could lose. From the infamous 1994 steroid trial to the wrongful death suit from Owen Hart’s family. Vince and his legal team have found many ways to somehow persevere in times when all looked dire. While some in the media have nicknamed him ‘InVinceable’ for all the times he escaped prosecution or loss of serious money…there have been times in Vince McMahon’s legal tussles, where he came out a loser.

Vince Versus The World Wildlife Fund

Since 1979, the World Wrestling Federation and the World Wildlife Fund shared the acronym WWF. Despite a few legal wranglings, both reached an agreement to continue to share WWF with the caveat that Vince McMahon didn’t overuse the logo and the term in various forms. Vince McMahon being who he was….ignored the agreement and the two sides faced off in court again. This time, Vince faced defeat and had to entirely rebrand his company from WWF to WWE.

Vince Versus Jesse Ventura

When Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura signed with the WWF as a broadcaster, Ventura alleged that Vince McMahon told him that he would not receive royalties on WWF home video releases. The only people that would receive money were the actual wrestling talent. Ventura would later discover that not to be the case, with other non wrestling personalities getting checks. In 1991, Ventura took McMahon and his parent company Titan Sports to court and won. Jesse Ventura was awarded $801,333 and an additional $8,625 in back pay for all non-video WWF merchandising featuring Ventura.

Vince Versus Brock Lesnar

After Brock Lesnar decided to quit the WWE in 2004, Vince McMahon had Lesnar sign a No Compete clause where Brock would not be able to wrestle for any other wrestling organization until his WWE contract expired in 2010. After a failed run at playing pro football with the NFL, Lesnar returned to pro wrestling in 2004 with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Vince sued Lesnar to prevent him from wrestling in Japan, but lost the case. Brock celebrated by renaming his F-5 finisher…the Verdict.Vince continued to add legal pressure on Brock and the two sides agreed to work on a new contract for Lesnar to return to WWE. The negotiations fell through, but ultimately both sides agreed on a new contract several years later. Vince had to cave on several of Lesnar’s demands and despite wanting Lesnar full time, agreed to make him a part time wrestler with heavy perks.

Vince Versus Chuck Austin

A former preliminary wrestler for the WWF named Chuck Austin suffered a severe injury at the hands of the Rockers during a television taping in Florida. Austin suffered paralysis and sued the company. Chuck Austin won the case and was awarded $26.7 million. For a more detailed look at this incident please click here.