Steve Austin clone sold autographs at Wal-Mart, WWE promotion makes Variety

-A man who claimed to be Steve Austin convinced a Wal-Mart store in Greensburg, Ind. to let him sell autographs for $10. The managers figured out it was the real Austin, but the man left before police arrived and discussed the matter with the man's manager. ""He claims Wal-Mart knew he was a look-alike," Police Chief Brian Heaton told the Chicago Tribune. "However, they had no material stating he was a look alike nor did they say he was a look alike," Heaton said. "People thought they were getting the real deal." [Thanks to all the Dot Net readers who passed along that story.]

-WWE promoted Lisa Richards to VP, affiliate marketing, according to Variety. The story notes that she will ocersee the marketing and promotions of the pay-per-view events and WWE 24/7. To read the full story, check out Variety.com.

Powell’s POV: The real Austin could probably generate some good publicity by making an appearance at the store. Of course, then stores across the country would probably round up any bald guy with a goatee (leave me out of this) they could find to impersonate Austin in hopes that the real guy would feel bad and make an appearance. It sounds like Richards is big in marketing now, so maybe she could make the Austin appearance happen. Yes, I'm reaching.