This week, the Wall Street Journal revealed that Vince McMahon, the former chairman and CEO of WWE, is dealing with legal demands from two women who claim he sexually assaulted them.
McMahon is accused of assaulting a spa manager in 2011, and Rita Chatterton, a former referee, had filed a lawsuit for the alleged 1986 rape. According to the report, McMahon plans to return to WWE because he feels he was given bad advice prior to his retirement and believes the media craze would have subsided eventually.
As PWMania.com previously reported, McMahon has strong supporters who oppose his return to WWE. Click here to read more about that.
In the most recent issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer included a direct quote from a longtime McMahon supporter who discussed their thoughts on the prospect of McMahon rejoining the company:
“What if (he) decided to upend the entire Board (he has 80 percent voting stock) and is still the largest owner of common stock? The class action shareholder lawsuits would cripple the entire company. The networks would balk. FOX had to get rid of Roger Ailes. I don’t think they will be favorable to his return. NBCU is a prisoner of the deal and even they spoke up about his TV appearances when he was in the headlines and still appearing on TV. The shareholder revolt would endanger the entire organization. This was a terrible shot today to the `moving forward’ `business as usual’ claim that was implemented by Stephanie, Levesque (and) Nick Khan. Now the conspiracy theories will be all about (Vince) coming back. If he comes back, it’s a scorched Earth scenario. Unless he figures a lesser role (and how can he of all people take a lesser role?), but the leak from his side is that he was given bad advice, so now he’s blaming people.”
This past Tuesday, Vice released their documentary, “The Nine Lives of Vince McMahon.” People who have seen the “Dark Side of the Ring” series will notice that there wasn’t much new information or footage revealed.
According to Meltzer, a number of people declined to be interviewed for the documentary.
Chris Jericho, Jim Cornette, Eric Bischoff, Bryan Danielson, C.M. Punk, Mick Foley, Jim Ross, Jerry Brisco, Jerry Jarrett, and Ted Mann of the Wall Street Journal were among the individuals whose participation was requested but declined.
