• ESPN Files To Join WWE Lawsuit
ESPN is trying to step into a class-action lawsuit filed against WWE to help get the case shut down privately. The lawsuit was started by fans who claim they were tricked by deceptive marketing. They say they were told that being an ESPN subscriber would let them watch WWE premium live events for free, but they ended up having to pay an extra $30 a month for ESPN Unlimited instead.
The fans only sued WWE, leaving ESPN out of the paperwork on purpose. According to Brandon Thurston, they did this to avoid a no-lawsuit rule in ESPN’s fine print.
ESPN filed a memo this week asking the judge to let them join the case anyway. Their goal is to move the whole thing into private arbitration, which would stop it from being a public class-action trial.
The fight is over the rollout of the WWE-ESPN deal. ESPN originally said they expected most cable and streaming companies to give the service to fans for free, but that hasn’t happened for everyone yet.
The lawsuit covers almost anyone in the U.S. who paid for ESPN between August and September of 2025. However, if you have a big provider like Spectrum, Verizon, or DirecTV, you aren’t part of the suit because those fans actually did get the service for free.
If ESPN wins this motion, the case will likely disappear from the public eye and be settled behind closed doors.
• “Carmelo Hayes got screwed. He deserves a WrestleMania match” – Former U.S. Champion
On last night’s SmackDown, Sami Zayn defeated Carmelo Hayes to win the United States Championship. During the ending moments of the match, Trick Williams punched Carmelo and Sami took advantage.
After the match, Nick Aldis announced Sami Zayn vs. Trick Williams for the United States Championship at WrestleMania 42.
Former United States Champion Baron Corbin (aka Bishop Dyer / Tom Pestock) tweeted the following about this title change:
“Just my opinion but @Carmelo_WWE got screwed. He deserves a mania match!! Him and Ilja made that title matter again! Sh*t give me Ilja vs @_trickwilliams vs Melo at mania”
Regarding the announcement of Sami vs. Trick at WrestleMania, Corbin wrote:
“Make it a 3 way!! @Carmelo_WWE has carried that for months and has delivered!!”
A fan wrote: “Tom can you please be a writer for WWE?”
Corbin replied: “Never ever.”
