Kevin Kelly and the Tate Twins just hit a legal roadblock in their case against AEW—and now, it’s all going behind closed doors.
A federal judge in Florida has ruled that former AEW commentator Kevin Kelly and former AEW tag team The Tate Twins (Brandon and Brent Tate) must take their dispute with All Elite Wrestling to private arbitration. The decision came down from Judge Harvey E. Schlesinger, who agreed with AEW’s request to enforce the arbitration clauses buried in the talent contracts the trio signed.
In his ruling, Schlesinger described the contract language as a “classic delegation provision,” requiring “all disputes between Talent and AEW… [to] be resolved for final, binding, and conclusive arbitration conducted before a single arbitrator in Duval County, Florida.”
That means this case won’t be unfolding in public court anytime soon—and likely not at all. The judge granted AEW’s motion to compel arbitration but did not dismiss the case. Instead, he ordered the matter “administratively closed,” meaning the federal case is on ice while arbitration plays out. Kelly and the Tates will be required to provide the court with status updates every 90 days, though those filings may reveal very little about what’s really happening.
Attorney Stephen P. New, representing the plaintiffs, told POST Wrestling: “We look forward to pursuing the plaintiffs’ claims in arbitration.” AEW did not respond to a request for comment.
This legal clash began back in August 2024, when Kelly and the Tate brothers filed a complaint in Philadelphia. The suit targeted AEW, company president Tony Khan, and commentator Ian Riccaboni, alleging breach of contract, defamation, and more. AEW pushed to move the case out of Pennsylvania and eventually into federal court in Florida, citing the arbitration clauses in the talent agreements.
Kelly claims Riccaboni falsely painted him as a QAnon supporter after he posted about the film The Sound of Freedom. He believes that perception ultimately got him fired. The Tate Twins, meanwhile, allege that Tony Khan damaged their reputations when he publicly questioned their reliability during a press conference, just after they were cut from the AEW roster in April 2024.
In court, the plaintiffs argued that the arbitration clauses—and the contracts as a whole—were unfair and should be thrown out. But the judge wasn’t convinced, calling their claims “generalized” and not specific enough to override the delegation clause. He wrote, “Reading Plaintiffs’ Response in the most gracious light possible, this Court finds that Plaintiffs have not specifically challenged the delegation clause.”
AEW has had similar success recently, pushing former wrestler Ryan Nemeth’s claims into arbitration earlier this year as well.
For critics of arbitration, this ruling adds fuel to the fire. Detractors argue that private arbitration shields powerful companies and limits transparency. Wrestlers, meanwhile, may have fewer tools to fight back when disputes arise.
Still, this fight isn’t over—just out of sight. Kelly and the Tate Twins can still pursue their claims, but they’ll have to do it in the private system outlined in their AEW deals.
Do you think arbitration gives companies like AEW too much control when disputes happen? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.