WWE Abandons Its "Vice City" Trademark Application Just Before GTA 6 Launch

Just before the launch of GTA 6, WWE, of all organizations, is making a curious footnote: The wrestling giant has dropped its own trademark application for the term “Vice City”. As IGN and several US wrestling and gaming portals like Fightful, Wrestlezone, Insider Gaming, and Yahoo Sports unanimously report, WWE had filed the application on August 8 with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). On September 21, 2026, it was officially listed as “dead” or abandoned.

The application thus fell into a highly sensitive period: Rockstar Games is heading towards the major November release of Grand Theft Auto 6, and the name “Vice City” has been an inseparable part of the GTA series for decades. Accordingly, there was great surprise when it became known that a wrestling company, of all entities, wanted to trademark this term.

Why Did WWE Even File a “Vice City” Trademark?

The application originally had nothing to do with GTA. According to reports from Fightful and Wrestlezone, WWE filed the application after NXT star Lola Vice, whose real name is Valerie Loureda, celebrated her departure from the developmental league and hinted at a move to the main roster. Vice hails from Miami and has Cuban roots; her ring name deliberately alludes to her origin. “Vice City” was apparently intended to serve as a trademark for wrestling and live sports content related to the rising star, not as an allusion to Rockstar's game world.

Is Pressure from Rockstar Games Behind the Sudden Abandonment of the Trademark?

WWE has not provided an official reason for the withdrawal. The USPTO file merely records the voluntary declaration of abandonment from September 2, which was finally processed on September 21. The fact that the application was dropped precisely now, just weeks before the GTA 6 release, fuels speculation within the community that Rockstar's parent company, Take-Two, may have intervened in the background.

This isn't entirely far-fetched: Take-Two traditionally defends its trademarks aggressively. Just recently, the company was in a dispute with Remedy Entertainment over a new company logo, as the stylized letter “R” looked too similar to the Rockstar emblem. However, direct intervention in the current case has not been proven, and none of the portals have yet received a statement from Take-Two or Rockstar. It's equally plausible that WWE simply no longer deemed the application necessary internally or legally assessed it as hopeless, because Take-Two itself has held older protective rights to “Vice City” for years. One thing is certain: The timing, just weeks before Rockstar's real-life Vice City marketing stunt in Miami, was extremely inconvenient for WWE.

Has It Happened Before That Third Parties Tried to Claim GTA Terms for Themselves?

Cases like this are rare, but not unprecedented: Companies from completely different industries repeatedly try to trademark established pop culture terms before the actual rights holder can react. In GTA's case, it's further complicated by the fact that Take-Two itself registered the core trademarks “Grand Theft Auto” and “GTA” years ago and has since meticulously monitored anyone operating near these terms. There are currently also speculations about further overlaps regarding the possible Liberty City DLC for GTA 6, whose name is also firmly connected with the series.

For players, the process itself changes little: WWE owns no rights to the term “Vice City”; GTA 6 can use the name as usual. Nevertheless, the episode is interesting because it shows how nervously the environment surrounding the GTA 6 launch now reacts to every perceived name collision, even if it originally had nothing to do with the game.

Source: IGN

What do you think about the Vice City trademark dispute surrounding WWE and GTA 6? Let us know in the comments!