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The Superstars of WWE are known for settling their scores in the ring, but sometimes a competitor will try a vastly different approach. Over the years, several WWE Superstars have attempted to stick it to their opponents, not in the ring, but in the courtroom.
Even recently, Superstars have tried to get a one-up on the company by hitting them where it hurts the most: their wallets. Some Superstars were more successful than others.
Here are five WWE Superstars who threatened to 'sue the company' and the details behind each of their storyline legal battles.
#5: Kevin Owens
The most recent WWE Superstar to threaten to sue the company is none other than Kevin Owens. Kevin Owens' beef with WWE comes after he was fired from SmackDown Live last week by Shane McMahon. On the September 10th edition of SmackDown, the Best in the World gave Owens the pink slip after the Canadian star refused to help him qualify for the King of the Ring finals.
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This week Owens returned to the company claiming that McMahon's actions were grounds for a wrongful termination lawsuit. Threatening to take a whopping $25,000,000 from the son of the Chairman, this financial loss would be a huge hit, even for the affluent McMahon family.
It will be interesting to see what comes next for Owens and McMahon, as the former Universal Champion said he would also like to see Shane get fired. Expect these two to face off one more time, perhaps in three weeks at WWE Hell in a Cell.
#4: Bret Hart
Bret Hart's return to WWE after the infamous Montreal Screwjob in 1997 was supposed to be a feel-good moment. Unfortunately for the Hitman, that wasn't the case, as Mr. McMahon attacked Hart on the first RAW of 2007. To add insult to injury, McMahon refused Hart's request for a title match. Inevitably, it was a cunningly devised plan that changed the Boss' mind.
Bret Hart appeared injured and concocted a story about being hit by a car. McMahon saw his chance to embarrass the former World Champion. Agreeing to the match, McMahon and Hart signed the contracts on RAW, where the Canadian's true plan was revealed.
Removing his cast, Hart revealed that the car accident had been set-up and threatened to sue the Chairman of the Board, if he didn't compete against him at WrestleMania 26. Faced with no alternative, McMahon met Bret at The Show of Shows. Hart brought a steel chair along and exacted his revenge twelve long years in the making.
#3: Randy Orton
Randy Orton is a dangerous individual and given that he is a 13-time World Champion, it's clear he knows how to get what he wants. After winning the 2009 Royal Rumble, it seemed Orton wasn't going to get what he wanted. A frustrated Orton punted Vince McMahon on the January 19th, 2009 episode of RAW and was subsequently told that he would be banned from competing at WrestleMania 25.
This didn't sit well with the Viper, who appeared on the next week's edition of RAW, flanked by his attorneys. As the Royal Rumble winner, Orton argued that he had a guaranteed World Title match and that banning him from WrestleMania was breach of contract. Orton even threatened to shut WWE down and cancel WrestleMania altogether, if he wasn't allowed to compete.
Orton was granted his title match at the show of shows. The legendary WWE Superstar came up short against his former mentor and Vince's son-in-law Triple H, proving that sometimes all the lawyers in the world can't help you.
#2: Christian
When Christian captured the World Heavyweight Championship in 2011, it was a long time coming. Captain Charisma had just seen his best friend Edge forced to forfeit the gold due to a career-ending injury and the Rated-R Superstar even helped Christian win the vacant title at Extreme Rules 2011.
Two days later, Christian would lose the title to Randy Orton and despite numerous attempts thereafter, only won the title back under controversial means at that year's Money in the Bank pay-per-view. Once again the champion, Christian would go to extreme measures to avoid defending the title, even using Orton's past actions as evidence of the Viper being mentally unstable.
Christian threatened to sue WWE, if Orton's rematch at SummerSlam went ahead. He even went as far as to threaten legal action against every single fan who watched the match. Of course, this lawsuit was quickly shut down by COO Triple H, who countered by threatening to fire and strip Christian of the title. The match went ahead and Orton regained the gold, but this wouldn't be the last bit of legal action from Captain Charisma...
#1: Edge and Christian
Three years had passed since Christian last threatened to sue WWE. Captain Charisma tried his legal tactics once again in late 2014, this time with his best friend Edge by his side. At Survivor Series 2014, Team Cena was able to vanquish The Authority from power thanks to the timely interference of Sting. WWE was left with temporary general managers until a permanent replacement could be found.
When Edge and Christian found themselves in the role on the December 29th, 2014 edition of RAW, things quickly turned sour. After the pair were ambushed by Seth Rollins (the prodigal Son of the Authority), the Architect threatened to cripple the Rated-R Superstar for good. There was only one way out of the situation and it required John Cena invoking his power to bring Triple H and Stephanie McMahon back.
Doing just that, the Authority returned to power, although Edge and Christian later filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the company. Although this angle prompted many fans believe the pair would be on screen more, nothing came of it. Within weeks, there was no mention of the lawsuit, and Edge and Christian never got their payout.
