Report Details Snag In Arbitration Process Between AEW & Ryan Nemeth
For most people, it would seem that Ryan Nemeth's 2025 lawsuit against AEW, Tony Khan, and CM Punk came and went rather quickly, after Nemeth voluntarily dismissed the suit two months after filing, in favor of arbitration. A year later, however, the arbitration process is nowhere closer to being resolved, and AEW appears to blame Nemeth for that.
POST Wrestling reports that on June 5, the promotion petitioned the U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Florida to compel Nemeth to arbitrate the dispute at the Duval County, Florida offices of JAMS, a private company "designed to help resolve disputes and arbitrate." AEW has previously designated JAMS to settle contractual disputes in their deals. In addition, AEW charges that Nemeth "misrepresented and misled" them with his conduct after both sides agreed to arbitration last April.
The renewed issues began after Nemeth had filed a demand to have arbitration take place at a JAMS office in Orange County, California, along with an assortment of unsupported claims under the California Labor Code." AEW argued that those laws didn't apply to Nemeth, as he was an independent contractor and not an employee.
This led to AEW attempting to move arbitration to Florida, a request denied by JAMS. Afterwards, the arbitration company presented both sides with a list of ten locations between California, New York, and Florida, allowing both AEW and Nemeth to strike two locations from the list, and rank the others "in terms of preference."
Ultimately, the move didn't work, with AEW arguing against holding arbitration anywhere in California, and insisting it be held in Duval County, leading to the recent petition. In addition, the promotion is also seeking "to prevent Nemeth from prosecuting an arbitration in violation of the agreement," as well as attorney fees and other costs related to the proceedings. They also filed a separate motion, asking
