In an interview on The Monday Locker Room Show, former Ohio Valley Wrestling superstar Ted McNaler noted that OVW wrestler Tony Gunn was recently issued with a cease and desist from All Elite Wrestling coach and talent Billy Gunn over his usage of the term “Gunn Show”.

Tony Gunn has been using the term for years, however Billy Gunn (real name Monty “Kip” Sopp) filed a trademark on the terms in February 2020 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Speaking about the situation McNaler said, “Tony Gunn got a cease and desist from Billy Gunn over the usage of the term ‘Gunn Show’ which as far as I know, Billy hasn’t even used that term in AEW yet. Apparently he got the rights to use it back in February, but Tony Gunn has been using that literally for the last few years on OVW and on YouTube and on YouToo America, but he has it on his tights, he has it on his T-shirts, he has it in his music and now, it’s all being taken away. Now, I did talk to a lawyer friend of mine and he did say Tony has a leg to stand on, but talking with Tony, I don’t know if he just doesn’t want to have any heat with possible future opportunities, but unfortunately, I don’t think he is going to legally fight it, which is a shame and the crazy part is, Gunn is his, shoot it’s his real name, but now, it’s being taken away. Yeah, his shoot name is Tony Gunn and based off what my lawyer friend telles me, because Tony has documented, prior use and not only that, we have done two documented shows with Billy Gunn on the show, in which he said, I guess from a lawyer standpoint, that Billy had the opportunity to approach Tony Gunn about the legal rights to that name and did not approach Tony about that prior and to me, like he had two prior opportunities to address it and didn’t.”

Tony Gunn addressed the issues himself stating, “I was recently told that Tony Gunn, you can no longer use the gimmick The Gunn Show, that it’s been trademarked by someone on a bigger stage, a bigger platform and that means that what I’ve been building over these past 3 or 4 years, building my brand, building who I am is gone, down to the music that I’ve had made, I can not use, down to my wrestling gear, my catchphrases that I say on the mic, what I’m referred to in the wrestling business, The Gunn Show, to my merchandise that I have that I can not sell any more, I can’t do any of it. I’ve been stripped away of it all and I’ve never felt this way before, I’ve never had my wrestling identity stolen from me, I never thought that could happen to me. It hurts, it hurts a lot and I’m p***** off, really p***** off. I’ve been wrestling for 15 years and I’ve had a lot of gimmicks, a lot of characters along the way and I finally found something that works for me, something that translated to the people and on TV and now, I’ve had it ripped out from under my feet, it’s b*******. At the end of the day, it’s truly my fault. As an independent wrestler, you’re supposed to protect your business, you’re supposed to protect your brand. My brand was The Gunn Show and now I lost that brand because of me. I’m going to say this, any independent wrestler out there that’s really making a name for themselves, that’s really found their niche and something that’s working for them, take it upon yourself, because nobody else is and get that trademarked, because you don’t know who’s watching, you don’t know who’s going to come along and steal your wrestling identity and steal your gimmick. For the person or the people that did this, karma’s a b**** and you’ll get exactly what you deserve. For me, I’m going to grow from this and I’m truly the only real and honest Gunn in professional wrestling and the one that stole this from me, all you are is nothing but an a**, man.”

As of writing, Billy Gunn and All Elite Wrestling have yet to comment on the matter. The full show is available at this link.