Vince McMahon could have easily avoided lawsuit, WWE veteran says (Exclusive)

Legendary wrestling manager Dutch Mantell believes Vince McMahon could have stopped Janel Grant's allegations from being made public.

Grant, a WWE employee between 2019 and 2022, accused McMahon of sexual assault and trafficking in a lawsuit filed on January 25. In 2022, Grant signed an NDA in exchange for $3 million to keep details of their relationship secret. However, McMahon allegedly stopped payments after giving her an initial amount of $1 million.

On Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk with Rick Ucchino and Sid Pullar III, Mantell questioned why McMahon did not give Grant the rest of the money:

"He'd already given her a million dollars, and he just cut off all communication. No more money, no no this, no no that. When she finally went to get a lawyer and told him [her] the story, I don't think he [she] believed it. The story is so (…) If you read it, you think, 'Bulls**t. This didn't happen.' But now when you start reading those text messages and this and that, you say, 'Damn, this guy, he's f****d up. Big time messed up.'" [28:51 – 29:26]

Mantell added that McMahon would probably have avoided a lawsuit if he paid Grant the $3 million they agreed:

"I think he should have went ahead and paid what he promised her, and he could have dodged all this. In Vince's head, he thinks he's an emperor. He thinks he can't be touched. He can't be bothered. What's two million dollars to him? He's a billionaire." [29:28 – 29:47]

After the lawsuit was filed, McMahon denied Grant's claims and vowed to clear his name. The 78-year-old later resigned from WWE's parent company TKO "out of respect" for the organization.

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Dutch Mantell on the other claims against Vince McMahon

The 67-page lawsuit contains several allegations, including a claim that Vince McMahon offered Janel Grant to an unnamed WWE wrestler for sex. The wrestler, described as "a world-famous athlete and former UFC Heavyweight Champion," was confirmed by the Wall Street Journal to be Brock Lesnar.

Later in the episode, Dutch Mantell referenced the allegations against Lesnar. He also alluded to a claim in the lawsuit that Linda and Vince McMahon are no longer together:

"How would you like to be in Brock Lesnar's household this weekend? Woah," Mantell continued. "Anyway, no wonder Linda hit the bricks. I don't blame her." [33:29 – 33:44]

According to the lawsuit, Vince McMahon described Linda as "his ex" and told Grant that their marriage was "an arrangement on paper for business purposes."

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