During a recent interview with TMZ Sports, Ric Flair followed up on the reports that he’s angry with WWE and threatening to sue them over “The Man” catchphrase that is being used for Becky Lynch. He’s upset that he uses the “To be the man, you gotta’ beat the man!” catchphrase and now WWE is referring to Becky Lynch as “The Man.” While he said he has no issues with Becky Lynch personally, he claims his daughter, Ashley “Charlotte” Flair is upset with him over filing the trademark for it. Flair said,
“I’m glad that I’m having this opportunity to clear the air. When I first saw this go down in August of 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. So I said, ‘I’m going to make some money; it’s my trademark and they have it to use.’ I’ve been saying it since 1981. So I got my worded statement, I sent them 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.
I told Hunter, ‘Hunter, I’m going to file.’ I mean, the reason they don’t have [the trademark], it’s my understanding that it’s because it’s too close to mine. So okay, let’s say, I’ve been saying ‘To be the man,’ which I have trademarked, I wrote a book ‘To Be The Man’… I told Hunter, ‘Hey, if push comes to shove, I’m going to file for it.’ I mean, I get it, but here’s the deal: I love Becky Lynch, and no one has supported the women’s division more than me as an outsider. As a matter of fact, I told the guys that I would have texted Becky last night and Sasha, but I’m sure Becky – I don’t know what the WWE’s spin has been to her. They stole it last night. It’s funny, my daughter is so mad at me because I filed, not even understanding that it’s not with 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. If I don’t win, and even if I won, Becky can have it 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’.”
You can check out a video of the interview below:
