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The latest reports suggest that people outside of WWE were aware of the gravity of the claims against Vince McMahon before a former employee of the Stamford-based promotion, Janel Grant, filed a lawsuit.
The wrestling world was shocked after an ex-WWE staffer sued McMahon, John Laurinitis, and the company alleging sexual misconduct. The 78-year-old was accused of pressuring Ms. Grant into a physical relationship and sharing her private pictures with other WWE employees. McMahon subsequently resigned from his positions at TKO Group and WWE.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer spilled the tea, stating whispers about Mr. McMahon's behavior weren't just hushed secrets in the WWE locker room, and it seemed everyone knew something was up.
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"Yes, it stops and ends with Vince McMahon. He was the guy at the top. But as somebody said to me tonight, the whole place from the walls and everything was pretty much crawling with bad things, and they need to blast that place up, and they kind of do. Everybody knew certain things," Meltzer said. (H/T: Cultaholic.com)
The veteran journalist further mentioned that even beyond the company walls, the truth echoed – the best friend of a longtime WWE employee knew the whole story.
"I had one person who didn't even work for the company but was best friends with somebody who worked for the company for decades. And I said, 'Man, there's a whole lot there that I hadn't heard before,' and he just goes, 'Why are you so naive? I was friends with X. I knew all of it,''' Meltzer added. (H/T: Cultaholic.com)
Dolph Ziggler opened up about his relationship with Vince McMahon
Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler (now Nic Nemeth) spoke about his backstage issues with the 78-year-old legend. During a recent chat with Chris Jericho on Talk Is Jericho, Nemeth mentioned McMahon had a back-and-forth contrasting opinion about him.
The Showoff praised WWE Pat Patterson, who believed in him from day one, and noted if Vince McMahon had seen him eye-to-eye, he would have reached the mountain top of the Stamford-based promotion.
"Let me squash that rumor because it's a fact. It got to a point where he was pitching for me so much for years that the second highest [executive] that there could be in a meeting at that point was like, 'Yeah, we're just to a point where we're just making you lose just to watch his face,' and I go, 'Oh, that's not a great way to run the company!'" Ziggler said.
When questioned about the recent lawsuit at the 2024 Royal Rumble post-show press conference, Chief Content Officer Triple H didn't address the specifics but instead highlighted the success of the premium live event this past weekend.
Do you think people outside WWE already knew about Vince McMahon's deeds before the legal lawsuit by Janel Grant? Sound off in the comment section below.
