Close X

Blog and News

Torts, Ted, and Captain Redneck

Posted by Eric D. Anderson | Sep 24, 2022 | 0 Comments

Torts, Ted, and Captain Redneck

Tort(from Latin torquere, to twist, tortus, twisted, wrestled aside)- A private or Civil wrong or injury.- Black's Law Dictionary

As you can tell from the definition above, pro wrestling is full of torts. From the almost constant presence of battery (an offensive touching) to assault (an incomplete battery) to tortious interference with contract (run-ins in title matches and evil managers) to hostile work environment (evil General Managers or Mr. McMahon's ‘Kiss my Ass' club). Of course, you very rarely see any kind of legal recourse for these offenses. That is probably because legal recourse does not sell nearly enough tickets. What we get instead is a throwback to older times and a complete disregard for law and order.

For example, let us go back to the fateful day when Ted Dibiase became a hero, Ric Flair remained Ric Flair, and Dick Murdock committed a series of torts that should have cost him a chunk of change and some jail time.

We take you back to one of the greatest promotions ever seen. Bill Watts' Mid-South promotion. In 1985 no promotion produced better television and their angles provide a cornucopia of material we can use to examine the law.

THE SET-UP
In an effort to battle the rise of the WWF, Watts started bringing in the NWA World Champion, Ric Flair to defend the NWA World Title in the Mid-South territory. This was the NWA champion's first time in the territory since 1979. Flair became engaged in battles with Terry Taylor and Butch Reed. During these battles, various storylines were executed to perfection in the area. But the best was yet to come.

Flair was scheduled to defend the NWA title on Mid-South TV. The scheduled challenger, Butch Redd, wouldn't be able to compete because of a neck injury caused by Dick Slater at the behest of Ric Flair (Note: We will deal with bounties on another day). Bill Watts announced that NWA president Bob Geigel, approved a new challenger for Flair, the hated Ted DiBiase. Watts pointed out that while some men never receive a World's Title shot, some men seem to wait forever to get theirs. Pointing out that Dibiase had waited a year, he was ready to go.

The ring announcer introduced the World's Heavyweight Champion, and then, as he introduced Dibiase, Dick Murdoch made his way down to the ring. Murdoch climbed into the ring, and told DiBiase to step aside. Murdock pointed out that he had given Dibiase his start in the business and that Dibiase knew Murdock deserved the title shot.  DiBiase responded that he waited a long time for that shot. Murdoch suddenly punched DiBiase and knocked him out of the ring. Murdoch then slammed DiBiase's head into the steel ring post, busting Dibiase's head open. As others helped Dibiase to the back, Flair announced that it looked like he was going home without breaking a sweat.

THE MATCH  The Angle and Match can be seen here
During the rest of the hour, announcers Jim Ross and Joel Watts continued to update DiBiase's condition. It appeared DiBiase had suffered “arterial damage” and it looked like he was done for the evening. Watts told the TV audience that DiBiase was seriously injured and that the doctors had applied a pressure bandage to his laceration. However, DiBiase was still determined to wrestle. DiBiase said he had waited a year for his shot and didn't want another year to pass for his opportunity. In a brilliant moment, Bill Watts warned the audience that even though DiBiase had been bandaged, his cut was so severe that parents may not want their children to watch the match. This, of course, guaranteed that parents would have to watch the show.

When the show resumed, after the introduction of Ric Flair, the crowd erupted as a visibly bandaged Ted DiBiase made his way to the ring. Seeing Dibiase coming to the ring like the fife player in “The Spirit of '76” Flair went on the offensive as Dibiase entered the ring, and the match was on. Soon,  Dibiase's cut opened up, and he bled like the proverbial stuck pig. Blood on the mat, blood on Dibiase, blood on Flair. The two battled back and forth, with Dibiase faltering due to the blood loss. But, when all seemed lost, he was able to mount a comeback. He took advantage of a Flair mistake and then went for the Figure-Four Leg Lock. But, before Dibiase could apply the hold, Flair kicked him off, and Dibiase fell over the top rope to the concrete floor. The referee counted ten, giving the victory to the Nature Boy by count out.

For a fan, this alone would be enough. But, as Dibiase lay bloody and beaten on the concrete floor, Dick Murdoch reappeared at ringside. He proceeded to beat on Dibiase, then led him around the ring ( to the hot cam, of course), and placed Dibiase in a maneuver called ‘The Brainbuster” which is essentially picking a man straight up and dropping him on his head. Jim Ross sold it like Dibiase was Sonny Corleone at the toll booth. Dibiase, not moving at all, was stretchered out and actually taken to the hospital.

THE TORTS
So what did Murdock do wrong? Plenty. Dick Murdock committed several batteries against Ted Dibiase. A civil battery is essentially trespassing on a person. It is unwanted touching without a proper defense. Here, Dibiase gave no permission for Murdock to clock the beejezus out of him and he certainly gave no permission to get the brainbuster on a concrete floor. It is important to note that had Murdock done this DURING a match at that time, there would have been no problem. The two defenses most likely to work would be
1) consent and;
2) Assumption of the risk.

As to the first, because wrestling is a contact sport it could be argued that Dibiase gave consent to all kinds of physical punishment or at least the possibility of it, which covers the second defense. With the brainbuster being a legal move and known as Murdock's signature maneuver, Dibiase was taking the risk that he could very well be positioned to receive that dangerous move. But, Dibiase can argue that while wrestling is a contact sport with high risks, intentionally dropping someone on their head onto the concrete floor exceeded the known or foreseeable risks. Much like in hockey, where players are involved in a violent game where almost everyone is carrying a dangerous weapon and wearing two dangerous weapons, there have been times when the violence exceeds the acceptable and legal norms of hockey violence. (See Marty McSorley, Todd Bertuzzi) criminal and civil penalties come into play.

Having established that Murdock was out of line, we will look later at the damages Dibiase could have received next time we wrestle with the law.

About the Author

Eric D. Anderson

Eric Anderson: Civil Trial lawyer, Criminal Defense Lawyer, Sin Lawyer

Comments

There are no comments for this post. Be the first and Add your Comment below.

Leave a Comment

Contact Us Today!

Areas We Serve

EDA LAW, Ltd. represents clients throughout the Inland Empire including Redlands, Beaumont, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside, and Yucaipa. Outside of the Inland Empire, we represent California clients based in Long Beach, Los Angeles, Alameda County, Orange County, Sacramento County, San Diego County, San Joaquin County, Santa Clara County, and Shasta County. Nationally, we represent clients based in Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.