WWE files trademark for former and current NXT wrestlers
WWE filed several new trademarks recently.
The company filed to trademark the former name of FTR’s Dax Harwood, “Scott Dawson,” on Friday, August 15. WWE had first registered the name in 2017, but the mark was canceled earlier this month after the company failed to file the required Section 8 declaration to keep it active. The USPTO notes that the previous registration was “cancelled because registrant did not file an acceptable declaration under Section 8.”
WWE also filed to trademark the name “Shawn Spears” for wrestling purposes on Friday, August 15, 2025. WWE previously filed for the name on March 7, 2024, one week after Spears returned to the company, but that application was rejected this February. The USPTO wrote, “A final Office action refusing registration has been sent (issued) because the applicant neither satisfied nor overcame all requirements and/or refusals previously raised.”
The name “Shawn Spears” is already registered to Spears himself. He originally filed for the mark in 2019 and was granted registration in 2020, and he remains the listed owner of the trademark on the USPTO site.
WWE also filed to trademark “Slapjack” on August 14 after allowing its previous application to become abandoned on June 20, 2025. The company filed to trademark “Ridge Holland” the same day. WWE had first filed for that name in October 2020, and the original application remains live, although WWE has been granted an extension for part of its filing several times. WWE has additionally filed to trademark “WWE Thunderdome” after its earlier application was abandoned on October 21, 2024, for failure to file a Statement of Use.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.