WWE Defends Lawsuit from Video Producer Over 'Real' Attack

When an entertainment company spends years winking to its audience about the staged nature of its reality programming, what happens when someone attempts to convince a judge it's too real?

Last month, Andrew Green sued World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., over alleged injuries he suffered at the hands of wrestler Paul D. Wight, Jr., aka the "Big Show." Green was employed by the WWE as a road producer for digital production and was responsible for conducting interviews with wrestlers after their matches. Green says that he suffered "physical and mental injuries" at last January's pay-per-view Royal Rumble when the Big Show, coming off a staged defeat in the wrestling ring, attacked him while he was trying to get an interview.

Late last week, the WWE had the lawsuit removed to a federal court in Arizona and pointed to a release and waiver that Green had signed in the course of his employment. The defendant says that Green's claims arise out of the exploitation of the video footage posted online.

Green says that when he approached the Big Show for an interview, the wrestler laced into "profanely indecent language" and "grabbed Green by the collar and throat, striking Green in the face and backing him up against a trunk while declaring 'You son of a bitch... Are you having fun right now ... Don't ever come up to me again. I don't give a sh-- who you are.'"

Green is suing the Big Show for negligence, assault, battery and infliction of emotional distress. He is suing the WWE for negligence, invasion of privacy, infliction of emotional distress, commercial appropriation of his likeness, unjust enrichment, as well as negligent hiring and retention and supervision. The plaintiff, represented by attorney George Mueller, says he's been humiliated and is seeking punitive and exemplary damages.

In response, the WWE is first focusing on the allegation of alleged injuries such as exploitation of Green's likeness caused by the posting of the video footage. The company says such claims are "completely preempted by federal copyright law," saying that whatever he shot was a "work made for hire."

Additionally, the WWE, represented by attorney John Gilbert, says in its notice of removal, "Plaintiffs’ state law claims involve nothing more than an attempt to interfere with WWE’s exercise of its exclusive rights under § 106 of the Copyright Act in violation of the express Intellectual Property Release and Waiver that Mr. Green signed."