WWE’s legal fight over its move to ESPN streaming just got another layer, and the plaintiffs are now pointing to a separate WWE lawsuit to argue discovery should move forward.
According to Brandon Thurston, plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit over WWE Premium Live Events moving to ESPN streaming are pushing back against WWE’s attempt to pause discovery. Their argument is that WWE should not get that pause because a separate Delaware merger lawsuit already raised serious questions about evidence preservation involving company leadership.
The plaintiffs specifically pointed to the recent ruling against Nick Khan, where the court found that evidence had been destroyed in connection with the WWE-UFC merger litigation. They are now using that ruling to argue that WWE cannot simply be trusted to preserve evidence while the ESPN streaming case sits on hold.
That matters because WWE has been trying to force the ESPN streaming lawsuit into arbitration. The company argued that because the plaintiffs subscribed through ESPN Unlimited, their claims should be covered by Disney and ESPN’s arbitration terms, even though WWE itself was not directly part of that subscriber agreement.
The lawsuit was filed by Michael Diesa and Rebecca Tobak, who claim WWE fans were misled about how they could watch Premium Live Events after WWE moved them to ESPN’s streaming app. The lawsuit alleges that some fans believed their existing ESPN access through cable or live TV streaming would be enough, only to discover they had to pay extra through the ESPN app.
Now the plaintiffs are trying to keep discovery moving before the court rules on WWE’s arbitration push. Their position is simple: after what happened in the separate merger case, they do not believe WWE should be allowed to delay evidence collection.
The case already had a lot riding on whether it stays in court or moves behind closed doors into arbitration. This new filing adds a sharper accusation to the fight, because plaintiffs are now directly questioning whether WWE can be trusted to protect documents and communications tied to the case.
WWE’s move to ESPN streaming already created confusion for some fans. Now the lawsuit over that rollout is pulling in another WWE legal headache, and plaintiffs are using the company’s own courtroom problems against it.
What do you think about the plaintiffs using WWE’s separate merger lawsuit to fight a pause in discovery? Let us know in the comments below.