YOUNGSTOWN — A Kinsman man says he is ready to rumble with some of the wrestling industry’s elite. Anthony Duane Wilson, an independent wrestler from Trumbull County, has filed a federal lawsuit against World Wrestling Entertainment and All Elite Wrestling, alleging intellectual property theft that he says has cost him work.

The lawsuit filed Aug. 2 in U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio, in Youngstown, has Wilson seeking $250 million.

Wilson is accusing the prominent wrestling companies of “plagiarism, market damages, product damages, personal damages and financial damages.”

The newspaper’s attempts last week to contact the WWE and AEW for responses to the lawsuit were unsuccessful.

Wilson — who wrestles under the monikers Phantom Infinity, Demon Legion and Tony D — alleges that the WWE, contractors and employees have used his “creative works” without permission. In the mostly handwritten lawsuit, Wilson alleges this infringes on his “wrestling gimmicks, names, slogans and likeness.”

Wilson’s allegations toward the AEW center on a business relationship he formed with a professional wrestling group called Bullet Club about five years ago, he told the newspaper.

The Kinsman native said he had been laying the groundwork for a wrestling company of his own and connected with the group due to its prominence on the independent wrestling circuit.

By this point, Wilson said he had already been creating characters and writing storylines for his idea, which would’ve used the same AEW acronym that Wilson said he created partly from his own initials.

Wilson then alleges that Bullet Club stole the plan, taking over the social media pages and worked with an investor to finesse the business venture — all while Wilson claims he was phased out.

Had he kept control, Wilson envisioned the company much as it is now — a worthy rival to the largest wrestling company in the world in the WWE and a hub for independent wrestlers like himself.

Wilson said he’s seeking full control of AEW and a board member seat along with stock options within the WWE, with plans to bring AEW and its roster under the WWE umbrella, if he prevails in federal court.

He wrote in the suit that both companies are “infringing works of mine” and claiming credit for his ideas — which Wilson said will follow him for the rest of his career.

“This has cost me work outside of professional wrestling and inside professional wrestling. These things have cost me fans and income. Several of these infringements were done maliciously to damage my reputation and career, attempting to embarrass me or waste my time. I’m a writer and professional wrestler, my creative works are my livelihood,” Wilson wrote.

cmcbride@tribtoday.com