Indie Stars Accuse Tony Khan & AEW Of ‘Gimmick Infringement’

AEW

Several independent wrestling stars have taken to Twitter to share some harsh words for AEW stars and didn’t leave out Tony Khan!

After a segment during AEW Dark revealed that there was a new AEW trio, it seems that several indie stars have taken exception!

During an AEW television broadcast, if you want to hear the Spanish announce team (of Angelico and Serpentico) whilst watching AEW television, you hit the ‘SAP’ setting which was referenced as the rationale for the new team name.

Announcing on AEW Dark the team of Angelico, Serpentico and Luther would now be the team known as S.A.P. standing for Spanish Announce Project, not everyone in the wrestling world was enthusiastic.

With fans and independent wrestlers alike hitting out at AEW and Tony Khan for what they’re referring to as “gimmick infringement,” from a longstanding independent tag team, the S.A.T. (aka Spanish Announce Team).

With the team consisting of primarily brothers Jose Maximo and Joel Maximo have been in active competition since 2000.

It is not as though they aren’t still on the circuit however, recently taking on the Briscoes at GCW Believe Me in Atlantic City in February 2022.

Writing on Twitter with the clip of the announcement, Jose Maximo wrote:

“Yo @KingSerpentico you f*****g Mark literally trying to steal our gimmic and name really? You really think this is going to fly homie! I hope AEW pays you enough to just do those shows because you can’t show up to indies. #sat #realones”

Then elaborated the next morning to say:

“Good morning everyone just a reminder that @KingSerpentico and @AngelicoAAA are bunch of marks trying to benefit from our gimmick and name. Be careful our fans are not stupid and they won’t stand for this s**t. #sat #realones #slap #onsite”

While the SAT Twitter account retweeted numerous fans complaints, others went so far as to tag Khan directly.

With another indie wrestler Zack Ruby weighing in to say:

“This is bs @TonyKhan. Give credit where credit is due to @realjosemaximo @RealJoelMaximo, Gimmick infringement is real.

“Kinda sad you can’t do anything original & have to rip off one of the top tag teams in independent wrestling. Honestly The S.A.T. is better than the S.A.P. 💯✊”

Lest you think only AEW has recently garnered the ire of indie fans due to a very close portrayal, WWE has also faced recent backlash. You can read more about that by clicking here. 

Good morning everyone just a reminder that @KingSerpentico and @AngelicoAAA are bunch of marks trying to benefit from our gimmick and name. Be careful our fans are not stupid and they won’t stand for this shit. #sat #realones #slap #onsite

— The S.A.T (@realjosemaximo) December 22, 2022

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