WWE talent react to Janel Grant’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon.
On January 26th, Vince McMahon resigned as the Executive Chairman of the TKO Group following a lawsuit from former WWE employee Janel Grant the day prior alleging sex trafficking and sexual assault in graphic detail.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter today shared a quote from “one of the biggest company stars of the modern era.” regarding the lawsuit, heavily implying that Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque is implicated in the situation.
““He’s the f’n cerebral assassin, best politicking dude in history, literally wormed his way from a green, entry level wrestler into a (still, average wrestler) absolute top of the office, executive, you think he doesn’t pay attention to what’s going on around him?” said one of the biggest company stars of the modern era. “Think he did that without knowing every little thing everywhere in that company? Yet somehow this slipped past his radar? The thing about that place is if TKO starts cleaning house, they’re gonna show up with a bucket and some Lysol, then realize that shits in the walls, in the floorboards, they’re gonna have to bring out the sledgehammer (because) that shit is gonna turn into a demolition job. Down to the foundation, sledgehammer pun not intended.””
-WON
Additionally, Meltzer revealed that one WWE star noted that the lawsuit was emotionally scarring to read, as it became apparent to them that the man that so many talents had strived to impress over the years never ultimately cared for their talents.
“One company star noted to us that reading the lawsuit was emotionally scarring, noting that the sad fact is that everyone in the company was striving for Vince’s love and approval, and how devastating reading the suit was to have thought that and worked for someone who in the end didn’t care about their talents:
“Vince made so many of us feel small and awful. We all had to obey his abuse in order to keep our jobs.””
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Unsurprisingly, the Observer also added that there was a lot of trauma amongst the women’s division, with many fearing that the situation will only worsen as more women come forward.
“It was also noted that there was a lot of trauma among the women as this went down with the fear it will get crazier as more women come forward.“
-WON
Following this past Saturday’s Royal Rumble, Triple H was met by several questions from the media regarding the lawsuit during the post-show press conference, however Levesque instead chose to focus on the success of the show itself, along with the Netflix deal.
This appears to have extended to the messages to talent as well, as Meltzer notes that one main roster star claimed that nobody had been spoken to regarding the situation, whilst another questioned Levesque claiming he’s yet to read the lawsuit.
“According to one main roster star, nobody has talked to them about the situation from management, other than to tell them that Vince won’t be back. Instead they were told how successful the Royal Rumble was and how big the new Netflix deal is. It was spoken of by one star that Levesque claimed to have not even read the lawsuit, noting that as someone in the company, it was hard not to have read it, and you’d have to be living under a rock if you didn’t read it.”
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Per the Wall Street Journal, McMahon is currenly under investigation from federal authorities regarding the allegations, with the ex-Chairman insisting that he will “vigorously” defend himself against Grant’s accusations.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the allegations facing Vince McMahon and the reactions from WWE talent as soon as we hear more.
