Kevin Kelly & Tate Twins Appeal In AEW Court Case Dismissed

Kevin Kelly and The Tate Twins’ court case against former employer All Elite Wrestling has seen an appeal dismissed.

A June 2025 ruling by a judge ordered the case go into arbitration which is when it was initially ‘administratively closed’, with Kelly and the Tates subsequently challenging this ruling. A report from Wrestlenomics' Brandon Thurston revealed that the Eleventh Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal because the original case was stayed (when a case is temporarily halted or legal proceedings are suspended either for the entire case or a portion of it). Because of that, they could not review the decision.

Kelly and the Tates filed a lawsuit against All Elite Wrestling, Tony Khan, and Ian Riccaboni on August 30 2024. Among alleging defamation, Kelly and the Tate Twins were seeking to void the arbitration clause in their AEW talent contracts and requested for the court to certify a class-action lawsuit against AEW over the alleged misclassification of AEW wrestlers as independent contractors instead of employees. Kevin Kelly was also seeking additional monetary damages from Ian Riccaboni over claims that Riccaboni defamed him.