From left, Nashville Office Managing Partner Larry Papel, wrestler Jeff Jarrett, and Atlanta partner Phil Cooper.

It was the most contentious contract signing ever seen in the Nashville Board Room. The smack talk was fierce. Palms slammed down on the conference room table. Jackets were ripped off, insinuating a physical fight would be welcome.

Client, preparing to sign the contract: “It’s an honor and prestige to be associated with this event.”

Then, more loudly to the other signatory on the contract, “The whole world has to revolve around you!”

Signatory: “You’re damn right it does, that’s why you’re here today. Why are you here today? Me equal the payoff.”

Client: “It’s not about a damn payoff. It’s about finally doing what the entire wrestling world has wanted to do for years, and that is put you out of your misery.”

Incoherent screaming, to include the client’s wife.

Client’s wife: “Shut up. Shut your mouth. Sign the damn contract. That’s the only reason you’re here, because you ran out of money.”

More incoherent screaming.

And there sat Atlanta partner Phil Cooper in his baby blue Matlock seersucker suit, seemingly the Southern lawyer representing the client. Grinning through it all.

“It was a blast,” he said.

The smackdown arose between legendary wrestler Nature Boy Ric Flair (Woooooo!!) and Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett in anticipation of Flair’s last match July 31 at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium. The 73-year-old Flair and son-in-law Andrade El Idolo matched up with Jarrett and partner Jay Lethal for the final match. Of course, the lead-up to the match included the usual trash talk and a podcast that featured a parking lot throwdown with lots of cursing and blood.

The combative contract signing in the Nashville office, as well as the subsequent parking lot beat down, has been viewed nearly 200,000 times on YouTube (under the title “The Last Match p 3”).

Jarrett, a firm client for several years, asked Office Managing Partner Larry Papel if they could use the conference room for a mock contract signing.

“I said, ‘Sure, come on up.’”

But there’s another connection between Jarrett and Nelson Mullins. Nashville partner Tom Cullen’s son, also senior associate Ryan Cullen’s brother, is a managing producer for wrestling promoters World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and has traveled with Jarrett to shows across the country and knows him well. “I texted my brother telling him Jeff was coming into the office, and my brother texted Jeff letting him know my dad and I both work at this Nashville office,” Ryan said. “Jeff responded to my brother with a voice text message saying something along the lines of ‘No way. I’ll be sure to beat up on your little brother.’” Ryan attended an earlier press conference about the match and met Jeff afterward.  

Before the contract signing performance began, a representative for Mayor John Cooper calmly read a proclamation declaring July 31, the date of the match, as Ric Flair Day and the property at 500 Wedgewood Ave. for the weekend of July 29-31 to be known as the "Nashville FLAIRgrounds."

Mediating the signing was David Crockett of longtime noted wrestling promoters Jim Crockett Productions, at one time a partner with Flair in a subsidiary promotions company, “to give it that old-school feel,” Phil said.

As the performance got more heated, someone suggested they come to blows in the office. “They wanted to have a blood scene in the office,” Larry said. “Ric had taken a blood thinner, and he said, ‘Sure, I’ll bleed out for a while.’ But then they decided they didn’t want to pay to have all the blood on the carpet cleaned.”

So they took their “dispute” to the fairgrounds parking lot, after which Jarrett texted Phil, “I just beat the s%$# out of Flair.”

A third-generation wrestler and promoter, Jarrett has had more than 80 championship reigns throughout his career, among them the NWA World Heavyweight Championship (six times), WCW World Heavyweight Championship (four times), WWA World Heavyweight Championship (twice), USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (three times), and AAA Mega Championship (twice). He was inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame in 2015 and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018.

Flair is considered to be one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time with a professional career that spans 41 years and is noted for his lengthy and highly decorated tenures with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation (now known as WWE). Flair is officially recognized by WWE, TNA, and PWI as a 16-time World Heavyweight Champion (seven-time NWA Champion, seven-time WCW Champion, and two-time WWF Champion) although his actual tally of World Championship reigns varies by source. Flair considers himself a 21-time world champion.

A Nashville-area native and high school sports star, Jarrett became a client of the Firm in 2013 when he was referred to Larry while negotiating a potential buyout of the other shareholders as a part owner of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Jarrett then formed Global Force Entertainment. Phil had seen Jarrett’s name in an email as a client and reached out to Larry to assist with corporate matters. A longtime fan of professional wrestling (particularly the retired The Rock and the late ”Macho Man” Randy Savage), Phil offered his assistance with the proposed buyout, the formation and funding of the new company, and other corporate matters.

Since then, Jarrett has called on Phil and Larry for corporate assistance. “We’ve continually kept in touch because he is such an entrepreneur. He always has things going on, from new joint ventures, to podcasting, to digital media and gaming, to promoting wrestling events at minor league ballparks,” Phil said. Jarrett also is part owner of minor league baseball team, for which Phil has provided counsel.

Conrad Thompson, a wrestling promoter and another of Flair’s sons-in-law, came up with the idea for the match and for the smack talk podcast to promote it. Thompson is the co-host of Jarret’s popular weekly wrestling podcast called “My World with Jeff Jarrett.”  Phil began assisting with the arrangements more than a year ago.

Flair's final wrestling match ended at a sold-out Municipal Auditorium with the figure-four leglock, the finishing move that is synonymous with "The Nature Boy." Flair’s team beat Lethal and the 55-year-old Jarrett, who is now mostly retired himself from in-ring action, although he still “laces up his boots” from time to time. Attendance was reportedly nearly 10,000 and included pro-wrestling luminaries The Undertaker, Bret Hart, and Mick Foley. At Jarrett’s request, Phil brought his laptop and wore his signature blue seersucker suit to the event, playing the Southern lawyer role to handle any last-minute legal maneuverings, as well as to be a part of photo-ops and the post-match celebrations.

Nelson Mullins personnel enjoyed playing a part in the events leading up to the legendary match.

“It was fun to watch,” Larry said. “There were cameras and equipment all over the back of the conference room. The director would stop them and say, ‘Don’t use that word. Get angrier. Be meaner.’ We were hanging in the doors watching. And when it was over, they had a big laugh, palled around, and left.

“Staff loved every minute of it,” Larry continued. “It’s the most popular thing we have ever done in the office.”