Independent Wrestler Claims TNA Stole His Gimmick

As we pointed out yesterday, Independent wrestler, along with the help
of former TNA booker Scott D'Amore began sending links to D'Amore's
facebook page to internet wrestling sites. Now, Conrad Kennedy himself
has issued a formal response in the form of a letter to TNA President
Dixie Carter. A copy of the letter was supplied to wrestlingnewsworld. You can read the full letter below:

Dear Mrs. Carter

My name is Justin T. Carnes, I was trained by Scott D'Amore along with
Alex Shelley, Petey Williams, and Chris Sabin. I have been working for
almost 11 years, nine of those as Conrad Kennedy III (CK3), and for the
last two years I have been working as "Krimson," in the states and in
the UK, a character based off the Joker. I have been sending promos to
TNA since I started doing the character, and last September, when I was
on the road with Rhino, who is one of my best friends, D-Lo Brown
approached me at the show in Windsor and told me he wanted to bring me
in for a try-out as "Krimson, the Joker character." I went again on
Rhino's last loop with the company, and was told by D-Lo to keep sending
promos, the more I send, the more he could pass on to creative, and the
better my chances of getting a job. So I did.

In January, I learned from one of my promoter's in the UK that TNA had taken my name, "Crimson." I was obviously upset by this. [color:f435=blue ! important][color:f435=blue ! important]Tommy [color:f435=blue ! important]Dreamer,
another friend, called me and told me that although it's upsetting,
think of a different name, at least it's not your character. So I did
just that. I continued to send promos under a different name, "Villain."
A few weeks ago I even received an email from D-Lo praising them and
told me he has sent all my stuff to creative, and will let me know. Now,
I see Sting doing a character eerily similar to the promos I have sent.

I realize TNA has promised me nothing, but I feel though, that the
appearance of the new "Joker-Sting" character, years after the film
debuted, and after a year of me sending promos, is more than mere
coincidence. Now I am faced with the problem of trying to find bookings
throughout the states, Canada and Europe, and potential promoters,
taking a look at my work and saying, "You have TNA's 'Crimson's' name
and Sting's Character. No thanks."

I'm quite certain that you were unaware of this happening, and
truthfully, I don't know if anything can be done. I feel though, that
the manner in which I was handled on TNA's part was nothing less than
unprofessional and appalling. I would have much preferred a "creative
has nothing for you" than encouragement to keep sending in my work, just
to see them steal my name and gimmick, and to watch Sting doing
essentially the same character on TV. Furthermore, instead of injecting a
fresh and undiscovered face into your product who writes his own
promos, and is more than willing to go on the road full time with an
established company, your writers see fit instead to giving the
character to an already established star such as Sting, who is in the
twilight of his career and does not even work house shows?

In conclusion, I thank you for your time in reading this. I have
included all the promos I have sent D-Lo both as Krimson and as Villain.
I invite you to watch them and I feel you will see why I am upset by
this situation. I have always wanted an opportunity to be a part of the
TNA family, as I feel I have a lot to offer the company. I'm sure your
creative team would agree. At the behest of my Attorney, I will also be
sending you a certified letter with a disc of the promos and a copy of
the emails from D-Lo as well."

Sincerely


Justin T. Carnes

TNA stole a gimmick? What else is new?!

Yikes.....I don't think anything will ever come of this, but still......Yikes.

OK, just so I understand this correctly...

This is a guy who's been in the business for 11 years, and 2 years ago created this totally new, completely original gimmick "based on the Joker." I presume this is the Heath Ledger version.

First off, how "original" is that?

Then, he accuses Sting of "stealing" it.

Well, let's take a look...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my9QDwj8Qgs

This has been Sting's gimmick for 14 years. That's 3 years longer than this guy has been wrestling, and 12 years longer than he's been doing the gimmick.

Sting got it from The Crow, which also was an obvious major influence on Heath Ledger's Joker. How big an influence? Well, take a look...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTbmdXNEm14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HPag2uOIc4

So, no, Sting didn't originate that gimmick, but this guy got it third hand.

All I can figure is he thinks there aren't many people who know about a 17 year old movie and a 14 year old wrestling stroyline.

^ Sting hasn't been acting like this since 1996/1997, and certainly not before then. This "Joker" thing was recent.

For the record, I love to watch TNA, but I disapprove of many of their business practices, especially the disproportionate pay.

Again, Sting's gimmick is from The Crow, he did it 14 years ago, and it's the persona he's most famous for.

Also from the 1990s was Vampiro...



Yeah, totally original gimmick this guy's been doing for the last two years. Right... His great "originality" is to do a straight up Heath Ledger impersonation. Not even using Ledger as inspiration for something he makes his own, but just an impersonation.

While I'll trash TNA for it's business practices as much as anybody, I'm not going to automatically take the side of anyone who tries to make a name for themselves at their expense.

But, if this doesn't work out for him, he can do a white rapper gimmick and accuse Cena of stealing it. That'd probably even get him more attention.