When you take into account that one of the many criticisms of All Elite Wrestling was its wild style that sometimes saw the action spill too far into the crowd and the potential liability that it could bring to the company, it’s not necessarily shocking that something that happened during an AEW event landed the organization on the wrong end of a lawsuit, it was probably just a matter of time.
However, it’s surprising that when details recently emerged about the legal filing, it was revealed that a former crew member was the one that filed the lawsuit against All Elite Wrestling and Jon Moxley. Sports Illustrated reported that Christopher Dispensa, a production member that was contracted to work through an outside agency, claims that the promotion and Moxley are liable for various injuries he sustained when he was pushed to the ground by Moxley during an episode of Dynamite in May 2023 that featured a Kenny Omega/Moxley cage match. Footage of the incident shows the AEW champion pushing a crew member to the ground to retrieve a screwdriver. Dispensa, who is being represented by Raitt Law, claims that the shove was unscripted and listed negligence, civil assault, and battery in the lawsuit.
Dispensa claims that he required neck and shoulder surgeries, among other injuries.
On the surface, the first aspect to consider is the legitimacy of this lawsuit, is this is a frivolous attempt at a money grab? Most reputable lawyers aren’t even going to invest their time or energy into a case unless there’s at least a decent chance at getting some type of measurable settlement. But, we all know that there are more than enough ambulance chasers that will represent someone at anything just to make a few dollars. Remember when a legal decision had to be rendered to determine that coffee at McDonald’s is hot?
Unfortunately, it’s nothing new in the world of professional wrestling, either. The infamous Konstantine Kyros, who brought several lawsuits against the WWE that were all eventually dismissed, would offer to represent any performer that had even a short stint in the organization to be able to get enough clients to file a class action lawsuit. Regardless of if a wrestler worked there for a year or decades, they were all filed under the same premise that they were owned money for injuries that may or may not have even taken place in a WWE ring. The legal filing, flimsy as it was, also cites the deteriorating health of those in the lawsuit, despite the fact that some of those performers were still wrestling, and that some of their unwise choices outside of the ring contributed to their condition. After the cases were dismissed, Kyros was ordered to pay the WWE $312,143.55 in 2023 to cover fees that were associated with the numerous cases that he filed that were found to have no legal merit.
It’s a shame because there are undoubtedly situations where a talent that was legitimately injured in a WWE ring probably had a legitimate case to get some type of compensation for it, especially some of those talents that worked there before the current medical protocols were instituted that the organization has now, but that got completely lost in the shuffle of Kyros’ attempt to get any old-timer that needed a payoff to join the list just so the lawyer could try to get his piece of the pie. The fact that pro wrestlers are still classified as independent contractors is a different matter entirely, and wasn’t the subject of the legal argument.
Let’s not forget, the Ted Turner organization had its share of lawsuits, and the vast majority of them appeared to be completely ridiculous on the surface, including claims of racial discrimination by Ranger Ross and Charlie Norris. If anyone can name their favorite (or any) Ross or Norris match without help from Google then maybe their claims might’ve had validity. Missy Hyatt also filed a lawsuit against Turner after she was fired from the company, and it was settled out of court. That’s where the precedent was set that the Turner organization didn’t want the negative press so frivolous or not, they’d settled more or less any lawsuit just to avoid any publicity. Charlie Norris worked there for less than six months, but got a quick payoff with his cup of coffee on national television. Notoriously, there were a series of lawsuits against WCW in the late-90s, which were also settled out of court. In short, The Turner media empire had enough cash to pay for these nonsense claims to go away and it was relatively cheap for them to do so in the grand scheme of things. On the flip side, Vince McMahon, for all of his legitimate faults, never wanted to set the precedent of a the legal position of paying off complaints, as it would encourage frivolous legal action. If someone was going to sue the WWF, they knew they needed a valid case rather than an attempt at a money grab. Of course, it’s ironic that Vince didn’t fold on a professional level, but personally had to pay millions of dollars to keep his affairs quiet.
The legal approach that Tony Khan decides to take in this scenario might be an indication of how far Dispensa’s claims could go in court.
If Tony wants to rebuff the lawsuit, it could get into some very interesting territory, as far as if Moxley going off script, as innocuous as his intentions might’ve been, put the company at risk to be liable for his actions. When you start to peel that layers of the onion back, if the case goes to court, could the lack of true structure of AEW be made public? This wouldn’t just be podcast snippets or social media posts from disgruntled talent, the main stream press could pick up the story, with the implication that this wrestling company didn’t have control of its talent. The validity of that notion depends on perspective, but we’ve seen for years how obtuse the mainstream media is with its reports on sports entertainment.
Because of that, and considering that Tony had often opted to pay talent to stay home without any communication rather than handle a dispute, the odds are that he’s going to take the Turner approach to settle out of court just so he doesn’t have to actually deal with the problem. The Khan family has billions of dollars, and with the amount of contracts Tony offers to talent that end up in the witness protection program in terms of exposure, paying off Dispensa is small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.
Still, the question should at least be asked, are these claims legitimate?
The video of the incident, which was broadcasted on national television, doesn’t appear to be anything even close to the injuries that are listed. However, for a lawyer to bring this to court, you’d expect the medial records and doctor reports of the neck and shoulder surgery that were required. If somehow that fall did legitimately cause that type of damage then it’s possible that he might have a case. That being said, there are still some odds details that don’t quite gel with the idea that this guy suffered this serious injuries, specifically because he kept working for the promotion until he was cut from his contractor deal in December of 2024. First, if he had to undergo these surgeries and AEW was responsible, why wasn’t this addressed sooner? Furthermore, if the company didn’t cover his medial costs at the time that he needed this surgeries, why did he continue to work for them for another year and a half? If he was truly injured because of negligence from All Elite or Jon Moxley, why would he potential risk his health again by continuing to work there?
Don’t get me wrong, Dispensa might have a case, but there are definitely legal questions that would have to answered on both sides of the argument to determine if AEW is responsible for his injuries.
As mentioned, if I had to guess, I’d say that All Elite Wrestling will settle with Dispensa out of court to avoid the negative publicity and to keep the possibly disorganized nature of the organization from being on the record. The optics of the world champion going rouge and putting the company in legal jeopardy aren’t good. So, how this specific case ends is probably moot, as Dispensa will get paid to go away. However, and this is the much bigger point in this situation, the precedent that the decision could set might be an entirely different matter. If Dispensa gets paid off, it wouldn’t be too surprising if a fan files a lawsuit the next time glass or chairs land in the crowd.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
