It’s no big secret that The Revival wanted out of their WWE contracts for some time, and a few weeks ago they were finally released. It looks the duo is ready to hit the wrestling world hard when things go back to normal, and there’s also been talk of them using the name The Revolt moving forward.
However, the team of Caleb Konley and Zane Riley have been using the name The Revolt on the independent scene for five years now, and they made it clear that they were unhappy about Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood potentially using their name.
PWInsider reports that they received a 10 page cease and desist letter from Konley and Riley’s lawyer, dated 5/10, and the letter was sent to Michael E. Dockins, who represents Wheeler and Harwood. The letter noted the following:
“The Revolt are well-known in the independent professional wrestling circuit and are the current PWX World Tag Team Champions. Mr. Burnett and Mr. Riley sell a range of Revolt-branded merchandise including t-shirts, hats, and DVDs, as shown in Exhibit B. The Revolt has been their passion for years and they have literally put their blood and sweat into building The Revolt brand and connecting with their fans.”
The letter also points out that the team has been using “The Revolt” and “Fear The Revolt” for trademarks related to pro wrestling purposes, and that Cash Wheeler declared under oath that to the best of his knowledge, ““no other persons… have the right to use the mark in commerce, either in the identical form or in such near resemblance as to be likely, when used on or in connection with the goods/services of such other persons, to cause confusion or mistake, or to deceive.”
The letter also notes that all four men know each other, and after learning of the trademark filings Konley and Riley, “tried to reach out as friends but were rebuffed. Dax [Note from Mike: the former Scott Dawson] and Cash may enjoy playing heels, but this is not the ring. They cannot steal their former friends’ intellectual property without consequence. Their conduct is not only unlawful, it is truly shameless that they would willfully steal a name from those that worked so hard to build it up.”
The letter goes on to note that under United States trademark law the “senior user” of a trademark “has the exclusive right to use the mark, regardless of whether the mark has been registered,” and that Konley and Riley have been using The Revolt name since 2015, making them “the true and exclusive owners of rights in the Revolt name.”
PWInsider received a response to the cease and desist letter from Harwood and Wheeler’s lawyer, and the response claims their new name is not The Revolt, but rather FTR which will mean different things at different times.
“Secondly, our clients do not intend and have never intended to call themselves FEAR THE REVOLT. They have at all times and in every way made it clear that their tag team name would be FTR, and that FTR can and would mean different things depending on their storyline and creative. They are not responsible for and cannot be held responsible for dirt sheets and others incorrectly attributing to them a name other than the name they have chosen, FTR. In fact, when your client reached out to my clients “as friends” to resolve this matter they were informed that the tag team name is, was, and will be FTR and not REVOLT or THE REVOLT or FEAR THE REVOLT.”
At this point there’s been no indication that Konley and Riley’s representation have responded to Dockins. Stay tuned for updates.
