WWE veteran says Vince McMahon made him uncomfortable (Exclusive)

Legendary wrestling booker and manager Dutch Mantell recently recalled how he felt while working for Vince McMahon.

Mantell, formerly known as Uncle Zebekiah and Zeb Colter in WWE, appeared on McMahon's programming between 1995-1996 and 2013-2016. The 74-year-old is best remembered by WWE fans as Cesaro and Jack Swagger's manager.

On Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk with Rick Ucchino and Sid Pullar III, Mantell said he did not like interacting with McMahon behind the scenes:

"Even when you're talking to Vince about wrestling, there's still a vibe about him that made me uncomfortable for some reason. Not that he ran the company or he was the boss or he was that, it was something else that I couldn't identify, but I felt better when I got away from him. Even when he was joking about something, you'd look at him and I just had this feeling come over me that something is off about this man." [4:02 – 4:39]

Mantell's comments come after a former WWE employee, Janel Grant, filed a 67-page lawsuit against Vince McMahon. She alleges that the 78-year-old sexually assaulted and trafficked her between 2019 and 2022.

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Dutch Mantell could never have worked under Vince McMahon at WWE HQ

According to the lawsuit, Vince McMahon "expected and directed Ms. Grant to engage in sexual activity at the WWE headquarters, even during working hours."

Dutch Mantell believes he would have needed psychological help if he worked for McMahon at WWE's Connecticut HQ, also known as Titan Towers:

"I couldn't imagine working in Titan Towers around him all day long. I'd have to go to the doctor. I don't know if you call it a psychological session or what, but to me, and he may not affect other people that way, but with me there was something about him that I just couldn't pin down." [4:41 – 5:06]

Vince McMahon denied Grant's allegations and accused her of detailing "made-up instances that never occurred." He later resigned as a board member of WWE's parent company TKO "out of respect."

Despite McMahon's denial, Mantell thinks Grant's claims are true due to the fact that the lawsuit contains screenshots of graphic text messages:

"I'm imagining, reading this suit, some of the things he did, some of the things he said, and he even said this in text messages, some of it, and they can pull that up. This is not a 'they said' or 'he said' or 'she said.' You can read it in a text. They can pull this up." [5:07 – 5:31]

Former WWE writer Vince Russo had a similar take on the situation. He believes the lawsuit findings are "simple" because of the text message evidence.

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