Lawsuit filed against Cody Rhodes, WWE & Fanatics over 'American Nightmare' phrase

The suit was filed by Wesley Eisold, a musician who heads up a band called American Nightmare.
As reported by POST Wrestling, the suit alleges “trademark infringement, breach of contract, and intentional interference with contractual relations” and was filed in federal court in California.
Eisold’s American Nightmare band was formed in 1998 and broke up in 2004, before reforming in 2010.

Eisold has held a registered trademark for American Nightmare since 2016 for the following uses:
Pre-Recorded digital, downloadable, and physical media, namely, audio files, cassettes, CDs, discs, DVDs, hard drives, MP3s, phonograph records, records, tapes, vinyl, and WAV files, featuring music, images, videos, and performances by musicians and entertainers
Clothing and apparel, namely, shirts, sweatshirts, jackets; Headwear
Entertainment services, namely, live performances by a musical group; arranging and organizing live musical performances; music publishing services; providing a website featuring information, commentary, and news about arts, musical events, and music accessible over the Internet, mobile apps, and computer/digital networks

In relation to that trademark, POST Wrestling writes:
In March 2019, Cody Rhodes applied to register the trademark “The American Nightmare” for wrestling-related activities. Eisold, who had registered a similar trademark earlier, opposed Rhodes’ applicant. The parties eventually agreed to a settlement in March 2021 to resolve the dispute, ultimately allowing Rhodes to register the trademark. At that time Rhodes was under contract to AEW. He later returned to WWE in 2022, where he continued to use the trademark.
Under the settlement terms, Rhodes was allowed to use “American Nightmare” on his merchandise under the condition that such items prominently used Rhodes’ name, likeness, or wrestling-related imagery in a size at least 75% larger than the “American Nightmare” text, according to the settlement agreement provided as an exhibit to Eisold’s complaint. In exchange, Rhodes agreed to a one-time payment to the musician of $30,000.
Eisold now claims that Rhodes, WWE, and Fanatics have violated that agreement by selling merchandise items that fail to meet those conditions.

Essentially, Eisold claims that many of the items WWE is selling through Fanatics display the American Nightmare phrase too prominently so it doesn’t meet that 75% requirement noted above.
Eisold claims that some fans of the American Nightmare band purchase Rhodes’ merch and wear it to their concerts, and that WWE fans sometimes tag the American Nightmare band on social media posts, suggesting there is evident confusion between the two.

POST Wrestling adds:
The complaint indicates that Eisold’s legal representatives contacted Rhodes’ lawyer in 2022 about the infringing “Crown” T-shirt design but didn’t receive a response. More recently, in April and May 2024, respectively, the musician’s counsel sent separate cease and desist letters to Fanatics and Rhodes. Eisold’s complaint says on May 31, his attorney received a letter from WWE that indicated that Fanatics referred the dispute to the wrestling company. Other than that, the plaintiff says he’s received no other correspondence from the defendants.

Eisold is seeking, as well as recovering attorneys fees, “damages of at least $150,000, as well as treble damages of up to $300,000 related to federal trademark infringement”.
As of this writing, none of WWE, Cody Rhodes, Fanatics, Cody Rhodes’ trademark attorney, or Eisold’s attorney for this case, have commented.