Representing ‘The Anvil’ and the start of Wrestlemania
You can tell Jerry McDevitt gets a kick out of telling the story about walking down Smithfield Street with his client Hulk Hogan one time in the mid-1990s and watching people go bananas.
“Cars were stopping in the middle of the street,” he said. “People were coming out of their cars to take a picture with him and get his autograph.”
When you’ve been the lawyer for the WWE for 35 years as well as the personal attorney for the company’s CEO Vince McMahon — arguably the greatest wrestling promoter of all time — you rack up some colorful stories.
Mr. McDevitt, a partner at the K&L Gates law firm, Downtown, had been mostly handling commercial litigation and some corporate defense work when the pro wrestling world — which he knew little about — came knocking on his door.
WWE wrestling star Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart was on a flight to Pittsburgh to perform at the old Civic Arena in 1987 when he was arrested by the FBI for fighting with a US Air flight attendant in a dispute over drinks during the flight — a charge he beat in criminal court and was ultimately awarded about $200,000 in a civil suit against the airline, according to Mr. McDevitt.
This interview has been edited for space and clarity.
Q. How did it all begin? A. “That night, I got a call from the lawyer who was then representing the WWE — I assume he probably regrets making the call since I ended up stealing the client. But he asks me if I would represent Neidhart. I said I would, and that was the start of the whole relationship.
Ididn’t know much about wrestlingat the time. What I recallwas that Jim Neidhart wasabout 6-foot-1 and a 280poundsolid block of granite. Hisnickname “The Anvil” camefrom the fact that held theworld record for throwingan anvil farther than any otherhuman being. He had a ZZTop-type of goatee, butch haircutand wrap-around shades.
He was one of the scariest looking people I had ever seen in my life. And when he came into my office he was petrified of the fact that he had to call this guy named Vince. He was scared to death of calling Vince. And I thought to myself if this guy is scared of Vince, I wonder who Vince is.
One of the things “The Anvil” was concerned about then was that him being charged with this crime might prevent him from appearing at this thing called Wrestlemania. I said what the heck is Wrestlemania?
He said, “Well, we’re having it this year in the Pontiac Silver Dome. It’s going to feature Hulk Hogan versus Andre the Giant as the main event match, and it’s already sold out 90,000 tickets.” I said, “What? 90,000 tickets to see a wrestling show!” That was when I first started to get some idea of the magnitude of this thing. Q. At what point in the evolution of the WWE did you begin representing the organization?
A. In 1987, WWF — as it was then called — was a privately owned company. It was either Wrestlemania 1 or 2. But they were just beginning to establish that Wrestlemania franchise. Jim pointed out that 90,000 tickets was more than had been sold for the Pope’s visit in the Detroit area. Q. Does it keep you up at night knowing your clients are engaged in elbow drops, diving head-butts and mid-air tackles?
It’s funny. But it’s not any of the stuff like that that’s really ever a problem. It’s very unusual. These guys are some of the most amazing athletes in the world. They perform maneuvers every night that if they miss by millimeters a guy could end up paralyzed.
And they are some of the most highly trained and skilled athletes you’ll ever find at what they do. And although some people like to degrade and call it fake and all that kind of stuff, I always say, “Well, why don’t you go in the ring some day and get up on a ladder 10 feet above a concrete floor and dive on the concrete floor. After you get done tell me whether you think that’s fake or not.”
What you see them doing is very real. They’re tough. Q. You represented WWE in the mid-1990s when pro wrestling was rocked by accusations of rampant steroid abuse. How was that case a turning point for your relationship with Vince McMahon?
A. I represented Hulk Hogan in the first investigation. Then I represented the company when they were criminally charged up in the Eastern District of New York in the early 1990s, which is really where the relationship kind of cemented because they went through 18 months of an ordeal unlike anything I’d ever seen. It was a real witch hunt.
They were acquitted of all charges without even calling a witness. We just cross examined the government’s case. After that, my relationship with Vince and Linda McMahon became almost family-like.
Since then, me and my firm have done everything for them. It’s not just litigation. We do Vince’s estate plan. We do his tax returns. We handle a bunch of trust work. We’ve established an estate planning device for him and his family.
The litigation that I’ve had to do for him has been across the board on ever subject imaginable from defamation claims to defamation defense to copyright infringement to trademark infringement to litigation with
the USA Network on whether we would be permitted to leave that network and take our programing to other places, to helping Vince set up the XFL Football League, not once but twice.
The WWE through the next 30 years became such a big part of the DNA of my law firm. Q. Is Vince McMahon your only client?
A. WWE is a major client, but I have other clients. I also represented Dr. Cyril Wecht. I’ll be 72 in January, so I’ve been trying to turn it down a little bit as I’m headed into retirement. But because of my longstanding relationship with WWE, I continue to represent them, although I keep telling Vince I do want to retire.
Mostrelationships nowadayswith lawyers and publiclytraded companies are at thegeneral counsel level. Outsidelawyers work with the generalcounsel of the companyand never with the CEO orchairman of the board.
But my contact and my relationship is directly with and to Vince. It always has been. It always will be. That’s kind of a unique relationship in the landscape of the law these days for the outside counsel to have that sort of direct relationship.