Wrestler Ric Flair sues S.C. auto dealer

Wrestler Ric Flair sues S.C. auto dealer
Rick Brundrett
McClatchy Newspapers

COLUMBIA --World champion professional wrestler Ric "Nature Boy" Flair would like to put a courtroom body slam on a Columbia car dealership.

In a federal lawsuit filed last week in Columbia, the 58-year-old Charlotte personality, whose real name is Richard Fliehr, contends that Stivers Automotive of Columbia Inc. through its Freedom Suzuki dealership used his name, likeness and slogans in radio, TV and print ads this year without his permission.

The 6-foot-1, 230-pound-plus wrestling legend is asking for actual and punitive damages of more than $75,000 - the threshold for filing federal lawsuits when one of the parties lives out of state.

The suit was filed Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Columbia; Flair was spotted later that evening on the sidelines during the football game between USC and Kentucky at Williams-Brice Stadium.

"By using his name in an unauthorized fashion and not paying for it, it lessens the value of his persona that he has cultivated both in the ring and out of the ring over 34 years," said his lawyer-agent, Eric Bland of Columbia, when contacted Thursday.

full story:
http://www.charlotte.com/business/breaking_news/story/310280.html




technorati tags: raw, wrestling, smackdown, pro wrestling, pro wrestling blog, ecw, wwe divas, tna, pro-wrestling, news

CM Punk, part 5

On the April 10 edition of ECW on Sci-Fi, Punk officially joined the New Breed stable,after several weeks in which both the New Breed and the ECW Originals had attempted to recruit him. However two weeks later Punk betrayed the New Breed during a four on four elimination match between the New Breed and ECW Originals by kicking New Breed leader Elijah Burke in the back of the head costing them the match. After the match Punk proceeded to deliver his finisher, the Go To Sleep, on Burke before leaving the ring alone. WWE.com later confirmed that Punk was no longer a member of the New Breed. At Judgment Day 2007, Punk wrestled and defeated Elijah Burke in his first singles match on a pay-per-view. Punk would then go on to One Night Stand 2007 and team up with Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman in a Tables match to defeat the New Breed.

Due to the drafting of ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley to RAW the ECW World Championship was declared vacant and a mini-tournament was announced to declare a new champion between Punk, Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von and the recently drafted Chris Benoit. Punk defeated Marcus Cor Von on the June 19 edition of ECW on Sci-Fi. By doing so CM Punk was meant to face Chris Benoit at Vengeance 2007 for the vacant ECW World Championship, however Benoit was hastily replaced by Johnny Nitro when Benoit no-showed the event due to what was described on-air as "personal reasons". Nitro subsequently defeated Punk at Vengeance for the vacant championship. Punk won another shot at the title at The Great American Bash against Johnny Nitro, who had changed his moniker to John Morrison at this point, however Punk was defeated again by Morrison. Punk the next week would challenge Elijah Burke and Tommy Dreamer in a triple threat match to determine the next competitor in John Morrison's 15 Minutes of Fame Challenge, in which Punk came out victorious. A week later Punk would defeat Morrison with the G.T.S. to earn an ECW Championship title match at SummerSlam. At Saturday Night's Main Event CM Punk would team up with Boogeyman to take on and defeat Morrison and Big Daddy V. CM Punk lost to Morrison for the ECW Championship when Morrison used the ropes for leverage at SummerSlam.

At the September 1, 2007 ECW taping in Cincinnati, Ohio, in a "last chance" title match, Punk defeated John Morrison for the ECW Championship. The match aired on the Sci-Fi Network on September 4.

technorati tags: raw, wrestling, smackdown, pro wrestling, pro wrestling blog, ecw, wwe divas, tna, pro-wrestling, news