http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Ventura#Litigation
In 1987, while negotiating his contract as a WWF commentator, Ventura waived his rights to royalties on videotape sales when he was falsely told that only feature performers received such royalties. In 1991, having discovered that other non-feature performers received royalties, Ventura brought an action for fraud, misappropriation of publicity rights, and quantum meruit in Minnesota state court against Titan Sports. Titan removed the case to federal court, and Ventura won an $801,333 jury verdict on the last claim. The judgment was affirmed on appeal, and the case,[29] 65 F.3d 725 (8th Cir.1995), is an important result in the law of restitution. As a result, Ventura's commentary is edited out on most releases from WWE Home Video.[30]
The person, Phil Brooks, devised the character, CM Punk, long before WWE came calling. If Punk had debuted in a WWE-owned company then WWE could feasibly lay claim to the character. This is what happened with The Dudley Boys. They debuted and wrestled in ECW from 1996-99 before moving on to WWF/E. Vince McMahon bought the rights to ECW when they folded in 2001 which included television and merchandise assets dating back to 1995. Because of this, McMahon essentially owned the rights to The Dudley Boys forcing them to change to their current, Team 3D moniker when they moved onto TNA.