Brian Blair has laid the smackdown in the wrestling ring, in a county hall, and even in his own living room, but now the former WWE star is hoping to enter the Florida House.
Blair, once part of the Killer Bees tag team and a Hillsborough county commissioner, is expected to officially announce today that he's running for the Florida House of Representatives, according to the Miami Herald.
"I am running for state representative because I want to use my experience as a businessman to help create jobs, reduce the size of state government and defend traditional values," Blair said in a news release, according to the Herald. "I believe we can accomplish these goals without raising taxes."
During his four-year run as commissioner, from 2004-2008, the 52-year-old Republican put a choke hold on taxes, passing the largest property tax cut in county history.
But it was the choke hold that Blair gave his two teen sons on Father's Day back in June that helped him make news in 2009.
According to a police report, Blair celebrated the holiday with sons Brett, 17, and Bradley, 14, with a black and blue brawl. He reportedly pushed and punched Brett, then grabbed Bradley by the throat and punched him in the head.
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The cops were called and Blair was arrested in his Tampa home and charged with two counts of felony child abuse.
"Mentoring children is something that's very important to me," Blair said in the news release today. "We have to keep our kids safe. The best way to do that is to keep kids on the right path to becoming upstanding citizens and positive contributors to our society."
So perhaps the Father's Day brawl was part of that mentoring.
Either way, you can't argue with Blair's results as a businessman. He successfully ran several gyms throughout the state for 11 years, an experience Blair thinks will help him well in the House.
"I ran a successful business with a multimillion-dollar budget and approximately 100 employees," Blair said. "I know what it takes to balance a budget, make payrolls and make a difference."
