WWE has filed a trademark for the ring name of star who has been a regular fixture on the house show circuit since their debut in October of last year.
Aaron Fara competed in the 2024 Olympic Games, representing Austria in the under 100kg weight class and mixed team Judo events.
Debuting in WWE back in October 2025, the name has been using on the house circuit has now become the subject of a trademark application.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office saw an application submitted on August 19 for the term ‘Viktor Zanov’, being the ring name that Fara has used since April.
Under Serial Number 50059451, the application covers the Goods and Services category:
“IC 041: Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibitions and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer rendered live and through broadcast media including television and radio, and via the internet or commercial online service;
providing wrestling news and information via a global computer network; providing information in the fields of sports and entertainment via an online community portal; providing a website in the field of sports entertainment information; fan club services, namely, organizing sporting events in the field of wrestling for wrestling fan club members;
organizing social entertainment events for entertainment purposes for wrestling fan club members; providing online newsletters in the fields of sports entertainment; online journals, namely blogs, in the field of sports entertainment.”
The August 18 episode of WWE NXT saw Zanov team with Shido Ash in a dark match victory against Alexander James & Lince Dorado. As is the case with dark matches, it wasn’t televised.
Ash and Zanov have previously teamed together on WWE Evolve, with their last two matches being victories over Cappuccino Jones & Marcus Mathers on EVOLVE 70 and The Mog Squad (Jacari Ball & Santi Rivera) on EVOLVE 72.
Like Zanov, Ash is also a Judoka and was confirmed as a WWE signing in May of this year, alongside Fara and Francois Prinsloo.
Is A Television Debut Coming?
For Viktor Zanov, he is yet to have a television debut on NXT, despite competing on house shows and in dark matches. When it comes to Ash, he may not have had a debut on the weekly NXT show, but he has competed on LFG (Legends & Future Greats), the A&E scripted reality series, under the name Shady Elnahas, being his real name.
With Grayson Waller disparaging the quality of the men’s NXT roster in recent weeks, an opportunity exists to inject two professional martial artists into the show, setting a bar for intensity when it comes to a blend of martial arts and professional wrestling.
The WWE roster is pretty light on former martial artists, particularly with the recent retirement of Brock Lesnar, a former MMA competitor in his own right. Showcasing two Judo fighters in NXT could open up new opportunities when it comes to intensity and threat.
Placing Shido and Ash into the current NXT ecosystem has the potential to disrupt proceedings, particularly when looking at the likes of Vanity Project, Birthright, Hank & Tank and others. And, then there’s the NXT Tag Team Championship, currently held by Tavion Heights and Myles Borne. So many opportunities and so much time to explore them.
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