Professional wrestling, both for the positives and the negatives, will always surprise you.
As we know, the industry is such a unique genre and over the years, triumphs, tragedies, scandals, and spectacles are all a part of the business that originated from the carnival circuit. There’s no question that sports entertainment can be a complete circus.
Unfortunately, at a time when WWE business surged for the first time in several years, and this year’s Wrestlemania has the most buzz of a WM event in probably a decade, the black cloud of the Vince McMahon lawsuit, the horrendous assault allegations that saw him resign in disgrace, continues to hover over the success of the merger of the TKO corporation. More information was made public this week with four of the previously unnamed corporate officers being named as the next phase of the lawsuit begins, which Brian Nurse, a former counselor for the company’s legal department, WWE president Nick Khan, the COO Brad Blum, and Stephanie McMahon named as those that had some level of knowledge of the accusations made against Vince McMahon.
The seriousness of the allegations should absolutely be taken into consideration, but at the same time, the nuances of who actually knew what must also be measured carefully.
For example, there was speculation, particularly after the original Wall Street Journal story that made headlines for the hush money payments that were made over the years, that the reason Stephanie McMahon left the company before she returned to make the PR save following Vince’s initial resignation, was because of his affairs within the company. However, the fact that she knew Vince might’ve employed his girlfriends over the years, that doesn’t mean that she had any knowledge of any type of assault or misconduct. At least from how it appears on paper, it seemed like Stephanie was named because she was in some of the same meetings as others that were named in the lawsuit, and if that was the case, it wouldn’t be too surprising since she had a corporate role in the organization so obviously, she would attend a corporate meeting in the office.
Given the deviant nature of the accusations, it’s somewhat difficult to assume that Vince or anyone close to him would disclose such information to his daughter. On the flip side, while not much is known about Brian Nurse since he’s not a public figure, it’s very possible that perhaps he was aware of something, specifically because of his role as legal counsel in the organization. It’s also very possible that Nick Khan and Brad Blum knew something, but it would be rather difficult to parse the detail as to what exactly they would’ve known or to what extent. Again, did they know that Janel Grant was hired because she was Vince’s girlfriend or were they aware that she might’ve been forced to do things against her will for him? It goes without saying that those directly involved, particularly John Laurinaitis, who was fired when the original story was reported in 2022, knew the depraved accusations toward McMahon.
Nick Khan was Vince’s right hand man in the modern era, specifically because of the negotiating power he had in the entertainment world, landing mega contracts for the organization. That said, Nick Khan was a relatively new addition to the WWE office, not a longtime stooge that kept a job to do McMahon’s bidding so it’s possible that Khan wasn’t told about McMahon’s personal behavior. Keep in mind, Khan worked very successfully for several years as an agent in the legitimate sports world. At least on the surface, he doesn’t seem like the type of guy that would risk himself to cater to Vince McMahon’s nonsense. But, this story has been so bizarre that you have to consider the possibility that Khan might’ve known something about Grant’s claims.
The biggest asset that anyone named in the lawsuit might have is plausible deniability.
They knew Vince’s girlfriend worked in the office and didn’t think of it as anything beyond that. There are text messages that seem to make it clear that Vince insisted on deviant behavior, and Laurinaitis’ attorney acknowledged his participation, but claimed that the former head of talent relations was a victim, too. Unless there’s some type of evidence to prove that any of the four people just named in the lawsuit had direct knowledge of misconduct then they have the benefit of plausible deniability. Granted, it’s possible that they didn’t know anything other than Grant was Vince’s girlfriend, but even if they did, there would have to be text message, e mail, or some type of other evidence to prove it. That’s not to dismiss the seriousness of Vince action’s but rather to explain that within the legal system, there will have to be a level of proof as far as what exactly anyone else knew about the entire situation.
Along those lines, it was surprising to see that Brock Lesnar, who was unnamed, but referenced in the initial lawsuit filed, was back to the roster page of the WWE website, prompting speculation that it might open the door for his return to the company. Lesnar was scheduled to appear at The Royal Rumble to set up a match for WM, but was scrapped from any plans because of the reference in the lawsuit. Furthermore, Lesnar was cut from the recently released WWE 2K24 video game, appearing only in specific game modes and not as a fully playable character. Reportedly, the game was too far along in its development to remove him completely from the game so his appearence was limited. Vince’s image in video footage used in the game was blurred, as the 2K video game company didn’t want to feature the disgraced former boss of WWE.
Could Brock Lesnar be on his way back to WWE?
It’s very odd timing for Brock to be added back to the roster page, particularly because the WM 40 card is more or less already set with the key matches, and specific measures were just taken to limit his appearence in the video game. Why exactly bring him back now or even re-add him to the website? The event already has a major buzz with The Rock’s involvement, Lesnar’s star power, while marketable in the past, isn’t needed for the show to be successful.
That being said, similar to others referenced in the lawsuit, Brock might have plausible deniability on his side.
The fundamental question is, what did Brock really know? Did he know that Janel Grant was an unwilling participant in McMahon’s behavior? Did Vince tell Brock that Grant consensually agreed to a physical encounter with him? According to the lawsuit, there were text message exchanges between both McMahon and Grant with Lesnar so if he was told that she was unwilling, that could prove his role in the misconduct. If there isn’t evidence to prove it then Brock will also have the benefit of plausible deniability. Don’t get me wrong, it’s completely sleazy that Brock wanted to swap women with Vince, but if he didn’t know the circumstances then it would be a different scenario than if he also wanted to force Grant to participate against her will in McMahon’s request.
All things considered, I would still be surprised if Brock is brought back to WWE anytime soon. The last thing TKO needs is for anything to bring another reference to Vince McMahon after the negative PR for the past few months. Plus, as mentioned, Wrestlemania is already a major success, both in terms of ticket sales and hype ahead of the two-day event so Lesnar isn’t needed and anything he might add to the show isn’t worth the potential negativity it could bring to the company.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
