Word got out a few days ago that Ric Flair is attempt to establish the nickname “The Man” as his trademark, meaning that WWE would have to pay him in order for Becky Lynch to call herself that. Now the Nature Boy has commented at length about his reasoning to TMZ Sports, and it’s now clear that his daughter Charlotte Flair is not on his side. That probably has something to do with the fact that she’s currently one of WWE’s top stars and close friends with Becky Lynch, but it may also be because she realizes it’s a fool’s errand.
As Flair tells TMZ, he didn’t mind the nickname being used, he just thought he’d get paid for it:
I’m glad that I’m having this opportunity to clear the air. When I first saw this [‘The Man’ Becky Lynch] thing go down in August 2018, I thought, ‘Cool, ‘The Man’ – my gimmick – versus my daughter, Charlotte.’ Okay, that’s the day it started, right after SummerSlam. I thought, cool. I said, ‘I’m going to make some money; it’s my trademark and they have it to use.’ I’ve been saying it’s [been mine] since 1981,” Ric explained. “So I got my worded statement, I sent [WWE’s lawyer] a text and the lawyer, who just has no respect for me whatsoever which is something I’m not going to deal with much longer, he said, ‘You’re wrong. It’s not even close.’ I said, ‘It’s not even close?’ So, boom, I sent him another text, he didn’t respond. So I had my lawyer call him and he blew off my lawyer. This is all in 2018 or in January of ’19.
Flair makes clear that he has no issues with Becky Lynch herself, and that even though Charlotte is upset about this, he feels like he’s doing it for her and the rest of his family:
It’s funny, my daughter is so mad at me because I filed, not even understanding that it’s not Becky. I have no beef with Becky. But here’s the deal: when I almost died two years ago, one person stayed by me the whole time for 31 days in ICU, 12 days while I was dying on a respirator, and I’m going to take care of her and her family, and my family that has taken care of me, no matter what. I don’t care what the WWE thinks of me personally; I know they love me, but obviously they have lost respect for me,” Ric continued. “If I don’t win, and even if I won, Becky can have [The Man] all day long. I’m glad! But I want the company to pay me for it because I’m going to take care of my family. I am going to be ‘The Man’, and if I don’t get it, you know what my tombstone will say? ‘He died trying to be The Man’.
In addition to Becky continuing to call herself The Man and being called that on merch, WWE just released a 2K20 ad yesterday in which Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Sting, and Bret Hart all talk about who was the Man before Becky, with no mention of Flair (Charlotte also appears in the ad). So it seems like WWE’s legal department is pretty confident Flair can’t succeed in this effort. “The Man” is such a common phrase it’s kind of hard to believe a trademark is even possible, but I’ll leave that discussion for people who understand these issues more than I do.
(Thanks to WrestlingInc for the transcripts from TMZ.)
