So this took me a while to address for several reasons – one, I’ve got quite a bit going on in my own house – I literally just got a GRAMMY Nomination for my new album “Buddy’s Magic Tree House” right after this happened, so I’ve been unable to concentrate on much else. It’s been a monthlong celebration at the Ran household so I’ve been trying not to let this bring me down too much.
But the second reason is also twofold: I’m a HUGE WWE fan, and Westside Gunn is a homie of mine, someone I see at events all over the world. In 2019 I snuck Gunn into the back door of Madison Square Garden right before Bully Ray embarrassed me in front of thousands. We met up in London after AEW’s legendary first All In show. We go way back. I’ve worked with WWE on music projects for years as well. With that level of closeness to the topic and both parties involved, you could understand why I’d want to approach it with a level of care and concern before I jumped out of the window to take a side.
So in case you’ve been under a rock, or you also got a Grammy nom: here’s what happened. Gunn attended WWE Raw in his hometown of Buffalo as he always does – in a front row seat that he paid for, wearing his own merch and ready to have a good time. This particular night, someone in the back had eyes out for the FlyGod, and he was immediately approached by security and escorted out of the arena just three minutes into the show.
The video he posted on social media shows him addressing the security guard politely, asking “why” and stating that he’s being thrown out “for no reason.”
No reason has been given at this point.
If you’re not familiar with Westside Gunn, Griselda Records or any of his moves over the past decade, I’ll try to catch you up. Gunn is probably the most famous WWE superfan there is.
Westside Gunn doesn’t just rap about wrestling…. he lives it, breaths it, wore it, and made it cool for an entire new audience. For years, he was arguably one of WWE’s loudest unpaid hype men. This cultural shift was cool, but the corporate heads at WWE didn’t see it, understand it, or maybe didn’t even care about it. West often used photos, images and sound bites from wrestling promotions on his albums, merchandise and more, which was sold, sometimes for extremely high prices – and almost always sold out quickly. I still can’t get a “HEELS” hat.
He made a song called “The Hurt Business” that actually featured wrestler MVP rapping on it, while he worked for the WWE, so I assumed a partnership was on the way. They moved to AEW and West appears on the Hurt Syndicate’s theme song for the rival promotion. He also runs his own wrestling organization, 4th Rope. These outside ventures plus his copyright-be-damned approach to content creation could all be factors that led to being kicked out of the building.
That night at RAW, it was made abundantly clear that the E did not want Gunn’s free promo. When it happened, it sent shockwaves through hip-hop and wrestling fandom alike.
And honestly? It hit close to home.
As someone who’s built a career tightroping the line with copyright; blending hip-hop with video games, animation, and wrestling culture, I know exactly what it feels like to love an IP so much that you want to create with it, only to be afraid of hitting a legal wall.
This moment isn’t just about Gunn and WWE… It’s about every independent creator trying to honor what they love without crossing the invisible lines around intellectual property.
The lesson I picked up a long time ago:
You can love a brand, boost a brand, help a brand — and still not be allowed to use the brand.
Ice Cube famously said in Boyz N The Hood… either they don’t know, don’t show or don’t care. Could be all three.
WESTSIDE GUNN & WWE: A CASE STUDY IN ‘INSPIRED BY’ VS. ‘OWNED BY’
For years, Gunn’s bars, merch, and social media presence did more for wrestling cross-culture credibility than most official campaigns. He wasn’t clout-chasing…he was amplifying performers he genuinely admired. You’d hear Finn Balor (who is also a fan) name-dropped at shows, Jon Moxley shouted out on tracks, hear him “putting the brick in the Pedigree” and often see him front row at pay-per-views.
But at the end of the day, WWE is a billion-dollar company with ironclad trademarks. Their legal team exists to protect the machine, not the vibes. Also, when you use photos and likenesses, that might involve a completely different team who wants to protect their copyright. You can’t just do it and say “It’s hip-hop baby” and not expect some sort of response… especially when you’re a pretty famous artist with millions of streams.
So when they told Gunn he had to pull certain imagery and references from merch and art, it probably wasn’t personal. I can’t sell my own Mickey Mouse clothing line just because I go to Disney World every week.
But it felt HELLA personal — because for fans and creators, this stuff is deep. It’s about love, but once we connect it to our art, it’s like FAMILY.
It put a spotlight on a hard truth every creator eventually learns:
For corporations, IP is business. For creators, IP is identity.
THE CREATOR TIGHTROPE: CULTURE VS. COPYRIGHT
Independent creators today grew up in a remix world — wrestling, anime, video games, hip-hop, comics — all swirling together into our creative DNA. But the law hasn’t evolved at the same pace as the culture. Some of my best buds live stream and react to wrestling events, holding their breath that they’re not hit with copyright strikes the moment the show ends.
Creators are constantly balancing:
Homage vs. infringement
Fan art vs. trademark use
Tribute vs. unauthorized likeness
Remix vs. reproduction
Most of us never went to law school — we learned by doing, sometimes by messing up, and sometimes by getting emails. Which I haven’t yet *knocks on wood desk*
And that’s where my own story connects.
MEGA RAN x CAPCOM: WHEN THE DOOR OPENS INSTEAD OF SHUTTING
I’m probably the best case scenario with this kinda stuff. In 2007 I started making video-game inspired hip-hop because I genuinely loved Mega Man. It wasn’t strategic. It wasn’t corporate. It was childhood memories and pure joy over those 8-bit melodies. Maybe it made a few hundred people dust off their consoles again.
I expected the cease-and-desist email when they messaged me on MySpace, the Big “C” looming over me like a rain cloud.
Instead, I got the opposite.
Capcom reached out — not to stop me, but to work with me. They officially licensed “Mega Ran,” making me their first hip-hop artist partner. That collaboration opened doors I never imagined. I’ve been an official guest at Capcom events at Comic Con, Tokyo Game Show and so many other places.
But here’s the thing:
That outcome is rare.Totally the exception and not the rule, which I understood.
For every Capcom, which was ahead of the curve in embracing fan artists, there are ten companies who protect their IP like Fort Knox, even from the people who are championing their legacy. They told me they loved the music, but the main reason they felt good partnering up was good for business… An independent rapper who made clean music and loved the IP was an easy play for them.
Partnerships happen when a company sees value. Cease-and-desists happen when they see risk.
WHY COMPANIES DRAW THE LINE
Brands are protective because they must be. Their entire identity is wrapped up in trademarks, character likenesses, logos, names, and storylines.
They typically embrace creators when:
-The work boosts their visibility
-It brings new fans into the fold
-It feels like respectful homage
-It doesn’t compete with official merch
-It’s aligned with the brand’s image
But they might wanna step back when:
-Artwork uses official logos
-Merch features protected imagery
-The tone feels off-brand
-There’s potential liability
-Licensing deals or TV partners tighten restrictions
Westside Gunn’s art lives in that gray area — extremely influential, extremely popular, and extremely close to trademarked identities. But it’s also extremely gangsta, let’s be real. Maybe they’re just not ready to be that close to that kind of content. WWE has political connects (yep) that might have different interests than what they want to push.
WHAT THIS MOMENT TEACHES ALL OF US
Creators out there might be scared of this moment and what it could mean. Don’t be!
The lesson isn’t “stop creating.”The lesson is to know the terrain you tread on..
If you’re an independent artist, rapper, streamer, designer, or content creator, you can absolutely be inspired by the things you love. But your voice, your originality, and your spin on that culture need to be front and center. Instead of taking Ron Smith’s photo from a 1991 live event and using it as your album cover, maybe hire an artist to give his take on that photo in your unique style!
Because the safest and strongest path forward has always been Interpretation, not duplication. If every gaming company I ever drew inspiration from made me delete every piece of derivative content today, I’d be hurt. But I wouldn’t be dead. Today, the “Buddy’s” universe gets more streams than any of my past catalog. It wasn’t always that way, but what I learned from the games and anime we get inspiration from was simple. Create and play in new worlds, not borrowed ones. Because borrowed ones could be taken away at any moment.
The goal isn’t to avoid the IP you love — it’s to build something strong enough that one day, someone is inspired by you.
CLOSING: THE REAL MAIN EVENT
Westside Gunn’s dispute with WWE shouldn’t be seen as a feud. It should be seen as a conversation — one that creators like me have been part of for years.
We can celebrate what built us, while building new things.
We can honor our inspirations, while owning our creations.
We can coexist with the giants, without getting crushed by them.
And maybe that’s the real crossover of art and wrestling:
We’re all just trying to tell our stories without getting pinned by the legal department. I hope Gunn continues to thrive, and I’ll be right there ringside to watch. Boom Boom Boom Boom!
