A Michiana Man made headlines before the election when he got a Romney-Ryan tattoo on his face. Now he's having it removed but not because Romney lost.
Eric Hartsburgh loves to get your attention. "I've been entertaining for 10-12 years in the pro-wrestling business." So he didn't even think twice about offering his face for sale. And then inking the side of it with the Romney-Ryan Campaign logo for 15 thousand dollars. "In the business of causing controversy. This was like what's going to cause the biggest stir, and it worked," said Hartsburgh.
In fact it's not his first face tattoo. He has stars on the other side of his face that go with his wrestling persona. Those will stay. And the Romney one was supposed to stay too. Hartsbugh said, "that was the plan, to have it for life. I was a Romney supporter." Did you catch that? He said "was." "Before the election I could argue Romney's positions. I could argue in his favor," said Hartsburgh. But now, Hartsburgh said he doesn't like Romney's behavior. "I can stand behind a losing party but not a sore losing party," said Hartsburgh. He hasn't hopped to the other side of the fence politically. "I'm definitely not gonna come out in support of Barack Obama."
These days Hartsburgh says he supports himself. "I'm in the business of self promotion." So beyond the politics he said getting the tattoo removed presents him with a free opportunity. A place called Dr. Tatoff in L.A. is offering to not only get rid of the tattoo but also fly him out to California. Hartsburgh hopes that will help keep the clock ticking on his 15 minutes of fame. "There was one week last night you couldn't turn on late night TV and not see a picture of my face. You couldn't turn me off. So hopefully I can stay that way and stay at that level." His manager of 10 years, Walter Tyskie, thinks he's well on his way. "Had a lot of phone calls, phone's been ringing off the hook," said Tyskie.
But what about the 15 thousand dollars he was paid to get the tattoo in the first place? Does he have to give it back? "I was only contractually obligated to keep it on til post election," said Hartsburgh.
Hartsburgh said his 15 minutes haven't run out yet. He said before he flys to L.A. he'll be going to New York to be part of a TLC show on tattoos. He also may be a part of a celebrity boxing match next year, in which he said he'll take on Jose Canseco.
