AEW has filed a lawsuit against the production company behind Queen of the Ring, Ring Productions LLC, claiming they have to receive unpaid sponsorship fees.
The lawsuit comes after AEW heavily promoted the wrestling biopic throughout early 2025. The movie, based on the life of women’s wrestling legend Mildred Burke, received a lot of exposure on AEW TV as part of a sponsorship deal with Ring Productions LLC.
AEW says more than $105,000 is still owed
According to Brandon Thurston of POST Wrestling, AEW says Ring Productions failed to pay the full amount agreed to in the sponsorship deal.
The report says AEW and Ring Productions signed a sponsorship agreement in January 2025 worth around $350,000. As part of the deal, the wrestling promotion agreed to promote Queen of the Ring in several ways.
This included featuring cast members on wrestling shows, sponsoring matches with the movie’s branding, showing the film’s trailer during live events, and having AEW wrestlers promote the movie on social media.
AEW carried out its part of the agreement throughout the campaign. Actress Damaris Lewis and other cast members also appeared briefly during Revolution 2025 to help promote the movie.
According to the lawsuit, Ring Productions had paid AEW $250,000 by May 23, 2025. However, the wrestling company says Ring Productions missed a payment deadline on February 28 and still owes $100,000 from the sponsorship agreement.
The lawsuit also asks for more than $5,000 in travel costs related to talent appearances. This brings the total amount AEW says it is owed to more than $105,000.
AEW is also asking for interest. According to the report, the sponsorship agreement says late payments would collect 1.5% interest per month.
According to the filing, AEW contacted Queen of the Ring’s production company by email four times between September and December 2025 but never received a response. After that, it hired the law firm Gunster Yoakley & Stewart to handle the matter.
The filing also says the law firm sent a formal notice to Ring Productions on March 24, 2026, giving the company seven days to pay what was owed. According to the lawsuit, Ring Productions Chief Operating Officer Paul Leighton acknowledged that the company owed $105,262.51, but AEW says no payment was made afterward.
POST Wrestling also noted that the sponsorship agreement reportedly includes an arbitration clause that says disputes should be handled through JAMS, an arbitration service. However, instead of using arbitration, AEW filed the lawsuit in the Fourth Judicial Circuit in Duval County, Florida, on June 26, 2026.
As of now, Ring Productions has not filed a response and has not yet been officially served with the lawsuit. Once it is served, the company will have 20 days to respond reportedly.
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