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This thread has been created at the request of the moderators to contain all discussion of the current scandal to one thread. The allegations contained in the lawsuit against Vince McMahon, Johnny Ace/John Laurinaitis and WWE are extremely disturbing and many posters would understandably like to not be confronted with graphic depictions of abuse in unrelated threads. Furthermore, please try to keep this thread civil, there is no need to attack other posters. Background: Vince McMahon and WWE in general have a long history of both covering up abuse and allegations of being involved directly. Here is a brief history of cases relating to abuse and assault. Vince McMahon personally talked Nancy Argentino out of pressing charges against Snuka: https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/jimmy-snuka-girlfriend-nancy-argentino-death Vince McMahon settled with Rita Chatterton who accused him of sexual assault: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10062356-vince-mcmahon-settles-lawsuit-with-former-wwe-referee-over-1986-rape-allegations An in-depth look at the Ring Boy Scandal: https://www.businessinsider.in/poli...ow/78938854.cms Details on Vince's sexual assault allegations at a tanning salon: https://deadspin.com/witness-vince-mcmahon-stared-down-groping-accuser-for-1822642014 Beyond these incidents there have been rumors of sexual misconduct and NDAs involving Vince McMahon for years, as well as reports that Johnny Ace's recruiting of female talent was suspect and that the Diva Search was highly fetishistic for executives such as Kevin Dunn. Ashley Massaro also made graphic claims against the company. In addition 13 women approached the New York times in late 2017 about their treatment but eventually got cold feet due to the reporter's lack of understanding of wrestling. The Most Recent Case: June 2022: The Wall Street Journal reports the WWE Board of Directors is probing a $3 MM agreement between Vince McMahon and a female employee who had signed an NDA about a sexual relationship with Vince. https://www.wsj.com/articles/wwe-board-probes-secret-3-million-hush-pact-by-ceo-vince-mcmahon-sources-say-11655322722 The original report stated the victim was in fear and Vince "gave her like a toy" to Johnny Ace. So from the start it was known this was not a consensual relationship, as consensual as a relationship between a billionaire and an employee could ever be. The victim had been promoted and given a 100% pay increase as part of the relationship. "My friend was so scared so she quit after Vince McMahon and lawyer Jerry paid her millions of dollars to shut up" according to a friend of the victim. A WWE spokesman at the time claimed the relationship was consensual. Vince appeared on Smackdown to show off how bulletproof he was where he was greeted by bowing fans and agreed to step aside as Chairman during the investigation. https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/17/media/vince-mcmahon-wwe-comments/index.html Stephanie McMahon took over as interim CEO. She had previously announced a leave of absence from the company in May of 2022. July 2022: A second WSJ article is published laying out more payments and NDAs including a $7.5 MM settlement with a former wrestler, in total $12 MM was paid out according to this article. https://www.wsj.com/articles/wwes-vince-mcmahon-agreed-to-pay-12-million-in-hush-money-to-four-women-11657289742 Vince then retired with Nick Khan and Stephanie McMahon being named Co-CEOs. Later in 2022: More old allegations continued to come out as it was reported a spa manager was planning to file suit against Vince for a previously unreported 2011 sexual assault and that Rita Chatteron was planning to sue as well. In December rumblings that Vince was planning a return began. 2023: The Wall Street Journal reports that Vince was planning to return as Executive Chairman with his excuse being the upcoming media rights negotiations. On January 6th WWE filed with the SEC that Vince, George Barrios and Michelle Wilson were re-appointed to the WWE Board of Directors. Vince then became Executive Chairman on January 10th with Stephanie McMahon announcing her resignation from the company. It was made clear that WWE was open for business in regards to a possible sale. On April 3rd Endeavor announced a deal that would merge UFC and WWE into a new publicly traded company "TKO" with Endeavor holding 51% ownership. Vince would retain stock in the company and become Executive Chairman. Federal agents raided Vince McMahon in July and he was subpoenaed as well. The deal was closed in September of 2023 and soon after it was reported Vince was not involved in day to day business running the company. In November a lawsuit was filed alleging that Vince McMahon used his control over WWE to orchestrate an unfair sales process which spurned higher offers to sell to Endeavor, run by his longtime friend Ari Emanuel. The suit alleges Vince did so to exclude other bidders who would axe Vince. In TKO's articles of incorporation, Vince cannot be replaced as Executive Chairman unless he dies, resigns or is incapacitated. quote:"7.2 Executive Chair. Notwithstanding Section 7.1(b), Vincent K. McMahon shall serve as the Executive Chair of the Board (the Executive Chair) until the earliest of his death, resignation or Incapacitation. Any vacancy of the Executive Chair (which, if Mr. McMahon is the initial Executive Chair, shall initially only occur upon the death, resignation or Incapacity of Mr. McMahon) shall be filled by the Board by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Directors." 2024 This week TKO announced a Raw media rights deal with Netflix and that The Rock was joining the TKO board. Vince McMahon made a public appearance with the rest of the leadership team: Yesterday, the WSJ published an article about a lawsuit being filed by the victim involved in the NDA which was reported in the original WSJ article. The most recent WSJ Article in readable format: https://archive.ph/t5H3A#selection-2665.0-2691.323 The Lawsuit: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ctd.157647/gov.uscourts.ctd.157647.1.0_1.pdf The allegations are incredibly disturbing. The victim is named in the lawsuit and article, so these quotes will use her name. It is alleged the company originally outed her name by revealing it to noted scumbag Brad Shepard who then tweeted her name and a photo of an unrelated person with the same name. I am excluding the most graphic depictions which can be found by reading the documents. Wall Street Journal posted:Janel Grant, a former employee at WWEs headquarters, said in a lawsuit filed Thursday that she was abused and sexually exploited by McMahon while he was chief executive. She alleged that McMahon lured her with promises of career advancement, and then he allegedly exploited her and trafficked her to other men inside the company. She describes how following the death of her parents who she was caring for, she was in need of a job. She was introduced to Vince and Vince offered her a job and then lays out how she was groomed by Vince and Johnny. This involved a level of control that included her doctor. Lawsuit posted:McMahon befriended Ms. Grant, giving her hopes of a new life with promises of a Lawsuit posted:In November 2019, Ms. Grant informed McMahon that her doctor suggested that Lawsuit posted:154. On or about December 29, 2020, a threesome was arranged between McMahon, Wall Street Journal posted:Grant alleged that McMahon shared nude photos and explicit videos of her without consent with other WWE employees, unnamed executives and stars, and directed her to have sex with them. The suit cited a July 2020 text that said others at WWE wanted to have sex with her after seeing photos on McMahons phone, and the group laughed when he told them, She may scream and try to say NO!!although it would B difficult to say anything with a c down her throat. Lawsuit posted:In March 2020, McMahon began sharing sexually explicit photographs and videos Wall Street Journal posted:In July 2021, the suit said, McMahon instructed Grant to create personalized sexual content for a WWE superstar that he was trying to re-sign. The suit didnt name the professional wrestler, but described him as both a UFC fighter and WWE talent. People familiar with the matter identified the wrestler as Brock Lesnar, one of WWEs biggest names. Lawsuit posted:On July 21, 2021, McMahon flew and/or caused WWE Superstar to fly on a jet into Wall Street Journal posted:In May 2021, McMahon allegedly told Grant that her presence in the legal department was holding up the hiring of a new general counsel for the company and thus transferred her to the talent-relations department, reporting to Laurinaitis. McMahon and Laurinaitis started her in a lower-level position but promised that she would soon be promoted to vice president, the suit said. Wall Street Journal posted:In January 2022, the suit said, McMahon told Grant that his wife, Linda McMahon, had discovered the relationship and he pressured Grant to sign an NDA in exchange for payments. The CEO warned Grant of reputational ruin that included pornographic content he had of her. He paid her about $1 million in February, the suit said, and later stopped making the payments. Lawsuit posted:On March 2, 2022, while Ms. Grant was away on a trip to Florida, McMahon called Beyond this, the allegations make it clear this was not a secret in the company. Multiple executives, techs, wrestlers and other employees are noted as either being shown photos by Vince, Vince bragging to them or knowing about the relationship in general. A text from Vince describing how public this was for him: As noted above, she is instructed to contact two WWE executives after Vince breaks off contact for Wrestlemania. Especially notable is "WWE Corporate Officer No. 1" as he comes up several times as knowing about the relationship and Vince referring to this person as a point of contact in the cover up. Lawsuit posted:At all times relevant, WWE Corporate Officer No. 1 was a high-ranking Nick Khan, per: https://frontofficesports.com/wwe-nick-khan-brad-blum-vince-mcmahon-sex-trafficking-suit But here we have a Corporate Officer who is described in a way where it can only be HHH who knew and participated. The most glaring part of the lawsuit is the claim of sex trafficking. Lawsuit posted:WWE knowingly participated in the trafficking described above in violation of As one would imagine, her trauma did not end with the abuse. Lawsuit posted:Indeed, Ms. Grants trauma (and ongoing fears of additional retaliation) was so To sum it up: She was promised a job, groomed into a sexual relationship which became violent and degrading, and was repeatedly exposed to other people. During the course of the abuse she was forced to travel across state lines (the trafficking) and engage in sex or forced to arrange to engage in sex with people traveling across state lines. She was threatened with exposure and the loss of her income if she did not cooperate and eventually pressured into signing an NDA after Linda McMahon learned of the relationship. Vince then only paid $1 MM of the promised $3 MM. The relationship was public knowledge in the company and according to Vince McMahon's own text message, celebrated by everyone from the tech crew to wrestlers and executives. Vince refers to rumors within the company about the relationship as early as 2020 with the exit of Barrios and Wilson. Knowledge of the relationship went beyond the company as Vince had involved a physical therapist in three ways and showed pictures to a former WWE referee. If you read through the filing there are numerous texts from Vince which are graphic, controlling and make it obvious the relationship was not just abusive but monstrously so. TKO's statement: https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1750628928287330429 A statement by Vince McMahon's spokesman: quote:"This lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and a vindictive distortion of the truth. He will vigorously defend himself." Post with descriptions of who some of the people in the lawsuit https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=0&threadid=4052812&pagenumber=5&perpage=40#post537433118 Summary of the case: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9K_G3VS4Dw Interview with the victim's attorney: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkMYD19H_oo The federal government is investigating: https://archive.is/MqbW5 Johnny Ace continues to talk, confirms WWE was aware of Ashley Massaro's claims despite their statement they knew nothing. https://twitter.com/timmarchman/status/1755314848211124626 Corporate Officer 1, 2, & 3 named: https://frontofficesports.com/wwe-nick-khan-brad-blum-vince-mcmahon-sex-trafficking-suit MassRafTer fucked around with this message at 23:05 on Mar 11, 2024 |
# ? Jan 26, 2024 19:35 |
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# ? Jun 8, 2024 07:27 |
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after all of this i have zero issues believing ashley massaros blood is probably on vince's hands
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 19:42 |
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Coaaab posted:if no one else wants to step up and this is the only formal complaint about vince's "proclivities", will this be a matter that'll likely be settled out of court? who does else tko need to answer to before trying to sweep this under the rug? Professor Funk posted:It will almost certainly settle. I assume Vince will retain separate counsel from WWE since their interests are not necessarily aligned here. Every defendant will move to dismiss the complaint, which will be a tough motion to win because the Court will assume all of Grant's allegations are true and there are 300ish paragraphs of internally coherent/corroborating claims. Assuming at least Vince loses his MTD, the case will go to discovery and likely settle at some point prior to trial. Unless discovery shows that Grant is full of it (seems very, very, very unlikely), in which case I'm sure Vince would want to take it to trial. SatoshiMiwa posted:It 100% will be settled out of court or if Vince wants to fight it all the way TKO will settle and let Vince fight it. i'll be keeping an eye on whatever journalists are keeping up with updates with the suit and don't want the story to be buried. i imagine 95% of wrestling media will be handwaving this story away a week from now, with maybe a few of them even being paid to participate in smear campaigns, lest they lose their precious access
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 19:51 |
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ESPN sent this push notification to everyone with their app today. I don't use the app for anything wrestling or MMA related, this wasn't a targeted notification.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 19:51 |
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Lucifunk posted:How did Dave Meltzer not hear about any of this over the years? Dave has hinted at knowledge of relationships such as this one in the past and obviously knew about the public cases. He has probably been more explicit about his knowledge in the past than he is now. Based on the fact that literally dozens of people within the company knew, one must wonder what, if anything he knew about this case before it came out. I believe he said he was unaware but I don't remember and can't check as I am no longer a subscriber. But for the most part he's not going to report something that could get him sued. However, I can believe it was public knowledge in the company but people wouldn't be telling the dirt sheets because this stuff was seen as "Vince being Vince." The lawsuit cites how the company knew about many previous cases. This wouldn't be notable to the company, just business as usual. This kind of stuff wasn't a total secret either. There were rumors of Vince having a mistress in Florida during the pandemic. Anyone who wasn't in denial knew his marriage was a business relationship. This stuff wasn't reported but if you were clued in you'd hear about it. MassRafTer fucked around with this message at 20:04 on Jan 26, 2024 |
# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:01 |
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If a settlement is what Ms Grant needs for at least a little bit of closure I hope she gets it. But if she wants to drag those motherfuckers publicly and have her day in court I hope she does. But it would likely be years away due to all the legal bullshit WWE would pull.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:05 |
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BigBallChunkyTime posted:If a settlement is what Ms Grant needs for at least a little bit of closure I hope she gets it. But if she wants to drag those motherfuckers publicly and have her day in court I hope she does. But it would likely be years away due to all the legal bullshit WWE would pull. I would expect a shareholder lawsuit. We got one over the Saudi plane incident and the company even settled that one. We had several over the investigation and now one over the sale. In the very least there is going to be more pressure on the company than just her lawsuit even if the federal investigation stopped with raiding Vince.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:09 |
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BigBallChunkyTime posted:If a settlement is what Ms Grant needs for at least a little bit of closure I hope she gets it. But if she wants to drag those motherfuckers publicly and have her day in court I hope she does. But it would likely be years away due to all the legal bullshit WWE would pull. It depends on the case but TKO right feels very much in the Settle any cases that have merit to make them go away mode cause of Cung Le lawsuit. They settled with MLW when they couldn't stop it going to Discovery. I feel they very much will just want this to go away and despite Vince's bluster will probably settle sooner rather than later
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:12 |
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I hope that johnny ace gets accidentally tied by the ankle to the next spacex flight and is shot into space and freezes to death while also being burned alive by the rocket thrusters
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:25 |
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hosed up man. You know that thing aint gettin to space
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:30 |
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That DICK! posted:hosed up man. You know that thing aint gettin to space i would accept Johnny ace being spread over a large area of southern texas in a uniform manner
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:34 |
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Is the best one can expect for punishment,for Vince,is that he is fired?
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:40 |
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I hope this company burns to the ground and I hope Vince and everyone has horrible agonizing deaths but I'm too realistic to think any of that will actually happen
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:41 |
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Can we have a standing agreement to avoid speculation of other involved parties not named or alluded to in the documents until they're revealed? I don't think we need to start adding people to this mess for failing to make a statement in the first x hours of the news breaking. Yes, Mick and others should absolutely being making statements, but this situation is incredibly messy at best.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:42 |
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The man poo poo on a woman against her will and kept her there. That is serial killer stuff
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:43 |
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Evil Badman posted:Can we have a standing agreement to avoid speculation of other involved parties not named or alluded to in the documents until they're revealed? I don't think we need to start adding people to this mess for failing to make a statement in the first x hours of the news breaking. no
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:43 |
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Evil Badman posted:Can we have a standing agreement to avoid speculation of other involved parties not named or alluded to in the documents until they're revealed? I don't think we need to start adding people to this mess for failing to make a statement in the first x hours of the news breaking. While I personally am not gonna start adding people to the do not fly list yet, I am pretty fuckin disappointed in a whole shitload of dudes who I thought would be the tiniest bit better than this
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:51 |
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Evil badman
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:52 |
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Evil Badman posted:Can we have a standing agreement to avoid speculation of other involved parties not named or alluded to in the documents until they're revealed? I don't think we need to start adding people to this mess for failing to make a statement in the first x hours of the news breaking. Idk, but if it were me I couldn't put out a statement condemning it and distancing myself from the company fast enough.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:54 |
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FV112gTPGcTV Zombie posted:Is the best one can expect for punishment,for Vince,is that he is fired? Vince could easily throw enough money at it to settle the lawsuit and then it's business as usual because he was never convicted of anything and it never goes to court. So best case scenario for Vince is that he is out several million dollar he'll never spend in his lifetime anyway and that's it.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:55 |
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First domino to fall https://twitter.com/WrestleVotes/status/1750961318859792855
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:57 |
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I just saw the bit about Vince McMahon having his assistant pick up and deliver $15,000 in Bloomingdales gift cards to the victim. Imagine getting that email, writing it off as a phishing scam and then having it be real
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:58 |
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TV Zombie posted:Is the best one can expect for punishment,for Vince,is that he is fired? I'm not versed in corporate or business law, but from what I've seen and heard, Vince is very well insulated in his position and even with this it would be difficult to force him out.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:58 |
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MassRafTer posted:First domino to fall This is the best way to get any company to act...hit their bottom line.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:58 |
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We stan slim jim
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:59 |
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TV Zombie posted:Is the best one can expect for punishment,for Vince,is that he is fired? The best you can hope for is a federal indictment. He was raided and subpoenaed. It's unlikely! I would say the best punishment is he doesn't get fired and the company burns around him. Any agreement to get him out of the company will involve a massive financial windfall for him.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:59 |
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I have been out of the loop with watching wrestling or paying attention to wrestling for a while but thank you for the informative OP about this whole monstrous situation. Burn this company to the ground.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 20:59 |
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BigBallChunkyTime posted:Idk, but if it were me I couldn't put out a statement condemning it and distancing myself from the company fast enough. Oh, 100%. rotinaj posted:While I personally am not gonna start adding people to the do not fly list yet, I am pretty fuckin disappointed in a whole shitload of dudes who I thought would be the tiniest bit better than this That's pretty much all I'm asking. There's deep scouring of WWE's entrenched shitheads that should be happening.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 21:01 |
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MassRafTer posted:First domino to fall The WWE's biggest legacy sponsor.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 21:06 |
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Hey remember when Vince tore both of his quads off his legs and must have been in loving agony and also super pissed off at his body daring to show a sign of weakness I hope it still hurts when the weather changes
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 21:08 |
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Vince has sex toys he names after professional wrestlers. Imagine how little dignity you'd have to have to find out that your boss has a sex toy he named after you and then used to assault somebody with, and then continuing to work for him.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 21:11 |
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Apparently internally there's been no meeting or letter sent to all wrestlers unlike the last tine this happened. Just complete radio silence as the world burns.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 21:13 |
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Lid posted:Apparently internally there's been no meeting or letter sent to all wrestlers unlike the last tine this happened. Just complete radio silence as the world burns. Am I going crazy or has that been the case kinda across the board, except for Meltzer? The first thing I have seen from any outlet is a POST wrestling podcast that just downloaded for me.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 21:14 |
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I assume there's a great deal of scrambling in the legal departments to figure out exactly what to say. The text messages are so damning.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 21:17 |
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I don't know much about Vince outside of the Mr. McMahon character, but what I do know tracks pretty well with the start of that document. Being forever scarred for living eight years in a trailer park and all that. I'm pretty sure one interview or another Vince has suggested that his own mother probably had the hots for him, or some other equally cringe statement that had big "if Ivanka wasn't my daughter I'd be dating her" energy. What's surreal reading through it is how much of the red flags come through due to me being a viewer, as though my understanding of predator signals is informed by watching too many 'Mr. McMahon' segments on the show over too many years which wouldn't come through to this lady who didn't know who he is. All I'm saying is if you're a female viewer, and VKM is giving you hugs and whispering about how good it feels, there's too much truth-in-fiction to not be able to read where that's going. The mystery of Corporate Executive #2 is interesting as it shows how few figures fans know outside the locker room and board. The closest thing to a high ranking non-board member involved in hiring is Regal, but he's more talent roster/PC stuff similar to JR in the day, who didn't really have time to visit the office with all his commentator duties. Most fitting person among people I'm aware of would be Mark Carrano. Executive #4 (who seemed to know what was going on immediately and didn't like it) is someone who left in the 2020 shuffling. Mark Kowal comes to mind as someone who worked there a long time in similar departments and left that year. Masturbating Referee's departure from the company lines up with Chioda, but I don't even like insinuating that because even if I can believe Vince wrote those horny texts with awful 4chan writing, remember we're not certain Vince wasn't making poo poo up when he allegedly wrote them. Part of the control and manipulation here is making her feel like everyone in the company sees her as a public prostitute, and so I doubt he was actually talking about her with as many people as he allegedly said he was if he didn't want this to blow up in his face. At one point he's saying "thousands of people" know about her as a sexual conquest, which again feels like he's eroding her self-image with these gangbang fantasies so that being shared by his inner circle of guys we're all familiar with comes easier. The biggest headache for the company is how well Executive #1 fits Triple H. Feels likely that the company settles so that it ends with Vince and we don't get into the weeds of naming who is who.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 21:18 |
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Sure, but not just from Wwe/TKO. As has been pointed out, nothing from Austin, foley, undertaker, nothing from AEW, nothing from cultaholic, nothing from wrestletalk, POST just got something up shortly ago I was expecting to at least see the first few mentions of this story last night, but it feels like it has been moving agonizingly slowly
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 21:18 |
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According to Dave there was one directive issued unofficially - lay low, only discuss the Rumble or storylines when spoken to.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 21:18 |
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Are Stridex pads still a thing because
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 21:19 |
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Hellblazer187 posted:I assume there's a great deal of scrambling in the legal departments to figure out exactly what to say. Maybe I'm a big piece of poo poo for guffawing at this, but the statement from McMahon's lawyers of "This lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and a vindictive distortion of the truth. He will vigorously defend himself" juxtaposed with the text message where Vince is like "all the tech guys were howling with glee at this truthful story I was telling them" made me guffaw.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 21:20 |
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# ? Jun 8, 2024 07:27 |
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rotinaj posted:Sure, but not just from Wwe/TKO. As has been pointed out, nothing from Austin, foley, undertaker, nothing from AEW, nothing from cultaholic, nothing from wrestletalk, POST just got something up shortly ago POST was covering it yesterday, the thing in your podcast feed is probably the audio version of a video they posted yesterday. Even the scummiest pro WWE outlets are covering it like Ringside News, and PWI posted this absolutely awful attempt at apologism: https://twitter.com/GolazoDan/status/1750970492301738272 It's also in ESPN and major outlets.
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# ? Jan 26, 2024 21:21 |