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Joey Ryan Requests To Move Case To Pennsylvania If Dismissed
Joseph R. Meehan, better known in wrestling circles as Joey Ryan continues to pursue a libel lawsuit against former ROH wrestler Pelle Tsichlis aka Pelle Primeau.
On 12/1, Meehan filed an opposition to Tsichlis’ request to dismiss the lawsuit according to documents obtained by HeelByNature.com.
Last month, Tsichlis filed a motion to dismiss a multi-million dollar lawsuit filed by Meehan in October. Meehan is seeking damages, allegeding Tsichilis posted messages targeting him on Twitter, in response to #SpeakingOut allegations over the summer.
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Tsichlis’ legal counsel believes his alleged posts were on a worldwide forum, it should not subject to personal jurisdiction in the State of California.
Meehan is opposing that claim, and is willing to move the case to Tsichlis home state of Pennsylvania if a judge dismisses the lawsuit.
A hearing date is scheduled for 12/21 at the First Street U.S. Courthouse in Los Angeles, CA.
Below are some excerpts from the 15-page filing.
SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT
– The Internet and Social Media have made the world smaller and that each person is separated by six degrees now sounds like remote proposition. As such, what would offend “traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice”
– Defendant urges the court to pigeonhole the instant case as one that merely involves a nonresident defendant who is alleged to have made defamatory statements on the Internet from 2,368 miles away in Pennsylvania about a California resident and nothing more. There is “more” here, however, because the statements made by defendant involved plaintiff and were directed at the state of California by affecting the commerce, taxes and residents of the intended forum state. Defendant words are a call to action to the State of California to shut down one of its viable business, Bar Wrestling, that plaintiff operated, and are a call to action to assist in the shutting down to other wrestling related businesses and persons, at least fifteen known by plaintiff, that either was a business based in California or that regularly conducted business in California
FACTS
– Bar Wrestling is owned by Plaintiff and it is a successful venture having ran fifty-five shows at Southern California establishments from June 2017 to March 2020 and in that time period selling 17,076 tickets for a revenue of $396,561.00
– Defendant is wrestler who lives in Pennsylvania and used his Twitter account to send a thirty-seven minute video disparaging Plaintiff and calling on over thirty persons to destroy Plaintiff’s career as a professional wrestler and destroy Plaintiff’s business, Bar Wrestling
– Defendant then attached a link of the video to five messages that were posted on Defendant’s Twitter home Timeline that were directed to twelve persons (including businesses) related to professional wrestling that are based in or connected to California to assist Plaintiff in his quest to destroy Plaintiff. Last, Defendant sent eighteen messages through his Twitter account indicating that Defendant was in the process of ruining Plaintiff’s life.
DEFENDANT EXPRESSLY AIMED HIS CONDUCT AT CALIFORNIA
First of all, Defendant intended on, and did, contact persons who Defendant hoped would assist him in ending Plaintiff’s business opportunities. However, the something more was established when Defendant directly solicited assistance from Southern California residents and businesses involved in the professional wrestling community. Defendant was also apparently intent on cutting off all commerce that was related to the sale of thousands of tickets for professional wrestling events in the future.
Defendant created a thirtyseven minute video and then sent links to the video to businesses located in Southern California in the wrestling community. Defendant had a specific target market for his communications. The intended recipients were not random. The video was Defendant’s call to action to destroy Plaintiff’s business, Bar Wrestling.
Defendant used his Twitter account to directly contact persons involved in California professional wrestling community using the “@” character. The video reached out directly to wrestler and promotors. The something more was established when Defendant plead for the involvement of California to destroy Plaintiff’s reputation and Plaintiff’s business.
TRANSFER TO FEDERAL DISTRICT COURT IN ALLENTOWN PENNSYLVANIA
If the court grants defendant’s motion to dismiss, Plaintiff requests that the case be transferred to the appropriate Federal District Court in Allentown, Pennsylvania where defendant is believed to reside and pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1631 in the interest of justice.
You can view the entire filing below.
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