A lawsuit has been filed against Jon Moxley and All Elite Wrestling.
On the May 10th, 2023 edition of AEW Dynamite, Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega would face off in a steel cage match. During the course of the bout, Moxley and Omega would leave the cage and while Moxley looked to use a screwdriver on Omega, the current AEW World Champion would shove a production crew member to the floor. Now, said production crew is suing AEW and Moxley.
On June 16th, Sports Illustrated's Jon Alba would report that the production crew member, named as Christopher Dispensa, had filed a lawsuit in Michigan alleging negligence, civil assault and battery over the incident. Dispensa's legal team claimed to SI that Dispensa suffered 'severe neck and shoulder injuries' as a result of the incident and required cervical fusion surgery. Dispensa was not a full time employee of AEW, and has not worked for the company since late 2024.
With regards to the incident itself, Dispensa and his legal team, Raitt Law, PLLC, claim that Moxley went off script when he shoved Dispensa, arguing that Moxley showed an attempt to intentionally harm Dispensa or “at a minimum a complete disregard for whether harm was a result.”
While the lawsuit alleges that Moxley has a history of events that show his unpredictability and AEW's inability to control the pro wrestler. Multiple AEW sources told Jon Alba that they were unaware of past disciplinary issues with regard to Moxley, with one source labeling him a 'locker room leader'. Dispensa's legal team says that Moxley and Dispensa had not discussed the incident bar for a short conversation after the show.
The lawsuit also accuses Moxley of gross negligence and AEW of negligence due to hiring and training Moxley. Dispensa's legal team also claimed that upper AEW management were aware of what had happened, but had not had any conversations with him on the matter. However, it is also alleged that Dispensa spoke with AEW's Dr Michael Sampson on the matter, who was said to be upset over the incident.
Dispensa's legal team also told SI that he was seeking damages in excess of 25,000 dollars for “injuries suffered due to actions of the wrestler and the company he worked for." When an AEW spokesperson was asked to comment on the matter, they responded with the following statement:
“AEW does not comment on pending litigation.”
As mentioned previously, Jon Moxley is the current AEW World Champion, and is scheduled to defend it against Hangman Page at AEW All In next month.
A federal judge recently ruled on another lawsuit against AEW being moved to arbitration. You can read more about that here.
