Kevin Kelly & Tate Twins Lawsuit Against AEW Moved To Arbitration

Kevin Kelly and the Tate Twins' lawsuit filed against All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, and Ian Riccaboni has been moved to private arbitration.

Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger for the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida ruled on June 11 for the case to be resolved in arbitration, Brandon Thurston of POST Wrestling has reported. The decision is a win for AEW, who asked for the case to be moved to arbitration following the initial filing of the lawsuit in August 2024. AEW had previously had the case moved from Pennsylvania to Florida.

Kelly and the Tate Twins' attorney Stephen P. New told POST Wrestling: "We look forward to pursuing the plaintiffs' claims in arbitration."

As part of his ruling, Judge Schlesinger stated the arbitration language in the plaintiffs' contracts was a "classic" delegation provision which requires disputes to be resolved in arbitration. It was also determined that the plaintiffs had insufficiently challenged whether the case had been delegated to arbitration, stating that the argument their contracts were unconscionable and unenforceable was "generalized."

Kelly and the Tate Twins alleged defamation and that they are misclassified as independent contractors in the lawsuit. Kelly also claimed AEW breached his contract and prevented him from securing work outside of the promotion.

Among the allegations, Kevin Kelly claimed Ian Riccaboni wrongly framed him as a member of QAnon, which Kelly alleged led to his AEW firing. The Tate Twins, meanwhile, alleged Tony Khan made damaging remarks about their reliability at a press conference.

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