By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
\nAssociated Press Writer<\/p>\n
January 26, 2006, 3:07 PM EST<\/p>\n
STAMFORD, Conn. — Wrestling star Brock Lesnar was billed as “The Next Big Thing, “but after a failed bid to play professional football he says he’s banned from performing anywhere in the world until he’s past his prime. <\/p>\n
Lesnar, 28, has a lawsuit pending in federal court in Hartford challenging an agreement he reached with World Wrestling Entertainment, his former employer, that restricts him from working in sports entertainment until 2010. <\/p>\n
The restrictions apply to many of the areas to which a 6-foot-3, nearly 300-pound man might aspire, from wrestling to ultimate fighting. <\/p>\n
“Lesnar now desires to work and earn a living in the only occupation for which he has been trained and which he knows, professional wrestling, and\/or the occupation for which his physical gifts and training as an amateur wrestler make him particularly well suited, professional combat sports, “Lesnar’s attorneys wrote in his lawsuit. <\/p>\n
The ban stems from an agreement Lesnar reached with Stamford-based WWE in 2004 so he could try out for the National Football League. Lesnar was cut by the Minnesota Vikings in August 2004. <\/p>\n
Lesnar contends in court papers that the agreement is unreasonably broad and unfair and prevents him from earning a living anywhere. His attorneys want the judge to declare the settlement unenforceable, arguing it is not reasonably tailored to protect WWE’s legitimate business interests. <\/p>\n
WWE says Lesnar pinned himself to the mat by agreeing to the restrictions. The company says it competes around the world and made a substantial investment in promoting Lesnar, a college standout and a world heavyweight champion in the scripted world of WWE. <\/p>\n
Lesnar, who made more than $1 million annually, was touted as a potential replacement for stars such as “The Rock. ”<\/p>\n
“He didn’t have two nickels to rub together before he met the WWE, “said Jerry McDevitt, WWE’s attorney. “He’s basically asking a judge to rewrite his settlement agreement. We don’t think we’ve been dealt fairly by this man from day one. ”<\/p>\n
Like a WWE match, the plot surrounding the lawsuit has thickened since it was filed last year. Lesnar’s side smells a conspiracy, arguing that WWE is waging a campaign of harassment and intimidation by trying to depose his attorney. <\/p>\n
Sensing danger, Lesnar’s side attempted to body block the move to let WWE question his attorney. A hearing was planned Friday, but the fight was postponed until next month. <\/p>\n
McDevitt would not discuss why he wanted to depose Lesnar’s attorney, other than to say the attorney wrote the terms of the agreement in question. <\/p>\n
WWE _ famous for putting on matches in which wrestlers talk trash and slam chairs off each other’s heads _ says Lesnar hurt his own prospects with improper conduct. <\/p>\n
“Among other things, Lesnar, in his last match as a professional wrestler with WWE, made vulgar, derogatory and disparaging hand gestures to the crowd in Madison Square Garden on March 14, 2004, at ‘Wrestlemania XX,”‘ WWE wrote in court papers. <\/p>\n
Talking trash himself, McDevitt called Lesnar a “prima donna “who wanted his own private plane when he tried to come back to work for WWE after his failed NFL bid. <\/p>\n
Lesnar has performed in Japan despite the restrictions, WWE says. <\/p>\n
Lesnar’s attorneys and his agent, Ed Hitchcock, could not be reached for comment Thursday. Telephone messages were left for them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN Associated Press Writer January 26, 2006, 3:07 PM EST STAMFORD, Conn. — Wrestling star Brock Lesnar was billed as “The Next Big Thing, “but after a failed bid to play professional football he says he’s banned from performing anywhere in the world until he’s past his prime. Lesnar, 28, has a lawsuit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wrestling","category-wwe"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"acf":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2B7Di-vu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1952\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrestlingpod.com\/wrestling-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}