Former pro wrestler Candy Cartwright has dropped her lawsuit against WWE star Matt Riddle.
TMZ first reported the news that Cartwright (real name Samantha Tavel) filed for a dismissal on Monday. It’s unknown what precipitated the decision or whether there was a financial settlement.
Cartwright’s attorney told TMZ, “The parties have put this in their past and are focused on the future.”
The suit was filed last October and included Riddle, WWE, EVOLVE, and Gabe Sapolsky. The other defendants were dropped from the suit since then.
She alleged that she and Riddle were in a van in 2018 with three other wrestlers. After the others had fallen asleep while traveling, Riddle overtly propositioned her for sex. She refused, but said Riddle grabbed her throat and threatened her with “What if I just made you?” She said she eventually gave him oral sex to get out of the situation.
Cartwright’s attorney said at the time that the incident was one of “a multitude of sexual assaults” committed against Cartwright by Riddle from 2017 through January 2020.
Riddle denied any wrongdoing while admitting he had an affair with Cartwright. At one point, he said they were going to sue her for cyberstalking.
One of our two biggest issues of the year, the 2020 Hall of Fame issue is out this week. It’s got complete results of the balloting among historians, active and retired performers, reporters and historians by category as well as final voting totals, plus who will and won’t be back on next year’s ballot.
The issue runs down the new members with extensive biographies on all of them. It explains the voting process and criteria, as well as runs down who came close. We also look at voting combinations that were popular, and notes on some of the key candidates. We list all of the first ballot Hall of Famers in history as well as the four highest vote getters in history. We look at people new to the ballot next year, who picked up Hall of Fame numbers in different categories along with bios of four of the five inductees.
Also in this issue:
AEW Full Gear show, including future AEW direction, match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results on the show.
Changes in the fundamental manner WWE has run its business since the beginning of time and why health conditions and economics have completely changed the industry.
New Japan’s upcoming tournaments, the Tokyo Dome show plans, the story behind it, business notes, plus a complete rundown of Power Struggle with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
Survivor Series and this week’s WWE television that leads to it.
Where WWE may be taping from after it leaves Orlando and the pros and cons of the place, Tribute to the Troops and why the rating number may surprise people, WrestleMania note, Paige talks Alberto Del Rio’s case, Stalker tries to invader Paige’s home, Bellas talk a return to the ring, WWE new trademarks, Dwayne Johnson after a movie franchise adn plan for new show, John Cena’s next big role, UK TV ratings, how Smackdown and AEW rank among sports shows, plus the market value of WWE and the most-watched shows from the past week from the WWE Network.
Saturday’s UFC show with match coverage and business notes.
Ratings breakdowns in every segment for Wednesdays and every category for other shows, looking at stats not available elsewhere to get the deepest read into how shows are doing, what categories are doing well and how shows compare with previous weeks and one year ago.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
HeelByNature obtained court documents showing WWE is seeking to move the Samantha Tavel/Matt Riddle lawsuit to federal court.
The Undertaker was the guest on this week’s The Bump. Sasha Banks, Leon Ruff, Johnny Gargano, and Candice LeRae also appeared. Street Profits, Bruce Prichard, and Lana will be the guests on a special Sunday edition of The Bump prior to Survivor Series.
Murphy will be the guest on this week’s After the Bell with Corey Graves.
People Magazine has a profile on The Undertaker, including exclusive photos of himself and his family.
Undertaker spoke to Ariel Helwani about officially retiring. He considers himself done, but there’s one caveat: “In my mind, I am 100% done. But there’s this guy that lives up in Stamford, Connecticut, who lives by the motto, ‘never say never.'”
Undertaker also spoke to USA Today about his career and his farewell taking place at Survivor Series on Sunday.
Shawn Michaels spoke to both CBS Sports and Metro about The Undertaker’s upcoming farewell.
Pro Wrestling Illustrated announced today that FTR ranked #1 in their inaugural Tag Team 50 rankings. Kenny Omega & Adam Page, Sasha Banks & Bayley, The North, and The Street Profits round out the top 5.
Bill Pritchard of WrestleZone spoke to The Young Bucks on their new book, ‘Killing the Business’, which is out now.
Chris Van Vilet spoke to JTG about his friendship with Shad Gaspard, saying that Gaspard should win the Warrior Award in next year’s WWE Hall of Fame.
Lisa Marie Varon spoke to Wrestling Inc. on her GAW podcast and the possibility of a run in AEW.
Darby Allin spoke to TVInsider on becoming TNT Champion, his feud with Cody Rhodes, and working with the likes of Tony Hawk.
A reopening of Florida by Gov. Ron DeSantis will allow all sports to run events without governmental regulation, which was noted in the local news would mean full stadiums for NFL games.
Right now there doesn’t appear to be plans for the state’s NFL teams to open up full stadiums, but the state will not get in the way if they can
While not announced officially, the plan is for WrestleMania to be on March 28, 2021 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa and then go to Los Angeles in 2022.
WWE always wanted 2022 in Los Angeles but the city wanted 2021. Given that California is going to be more cautious about events like this than Florida (a drunk driver racing at Daytona is probably more cautious than the Governor of Florida in reality), it really all makes sense.
Plus Tampa does deserve it based on the work put in to house it last year.
Candy Cartwright is suing Matt Riddle, WWE, EVOLVE, and Gabe Sapolsky for $10 million per defendant in a sexual assault lawsuit.
In a press conference in Chicago Thursday, Cartweight (real name Samantha Tavel) and attorney John Chwarzynski of Hale & Monico discussed her side of the story that first emerged in mid-June during the #SpeakingOut movement.
While working for EVOLVE in May 2018, Cartwright said she and Riddle were in a van with three other wrestlers. After the others had fallen asleep while traveling, Riddle overtly propositioned her for sex. She refused, but said Riddle grabbed her throat and threatened her with “What if I just made you?” She said she eventually gave him oral sex to get out of the situation.
Chwarzynski said Thursday that incident was one of “a multitude of sexual assaults committed by Matt Riddle against my client, Candi Cartwright” from 2017 through January 2020. In April 2017, it alleges Riddle raped Cartwright after an EVOLVE show in Brooklyn, New York, while in a parked vehicle and that he bragged about it to Sapolsky and others. The suit says the EVOLVE co-founder “tacitly approved of this conduct” and allowed it to happen, even encouraging it.
The suit said Cartwright had bookings with both WWE and EVOLVE on January 31st, 2020, but that she refused to perform sexual acts on Riddle and had her bookings cancelled due to “issues with the talent.” That was because Riddle allegedly told WWE and EVOLVE that because Cartwright wouldn’t perform sexual acts on him, he didn’t want her working for either group and that both complied.
At the press conference, Chwarzynski said he is going to send copies of the lawsuit to both the state attorney’s office and the Summit (IL) Police Department where the incident allegedly took place as he wants them to open an investigation.
Riddle, who was called up to the WWE main roster days after the allegations went public, denied them on two occasions, the second in a video in which he admitted having an affair with Tavel but never sexually assaulted or abused her. When he first denied it, he said he and his lawyer were going to seek an injunction for cyberstalking but it’s unclear whether that happened.
As of this writing, neither Riddle or his attorney have made a public statement.
The suit was filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, but in a statement to WrestlingObserver.com, a representative from WWE said they “have not been served with a lawsuit by Ms. Tavel. However, if served, we will vigorously defend ourselves and contest it.” Fightful got a quote from Sapolsky that said, “News to me.”
At the press conference, Chwarzynski said, “WWE has painted a picture over the course of the years that female performers are to comply with certain rules. The WWE, since its inception, has hyper-sexualized female performers and they’ve profited from male aggression against these female performers.”
In reading through the lawsuit, there are errors, specifically that Riddle worked for WWE on/prior to May 2018 when he didn’t sign a deal until that summer. There are also some questions regarding how WWE and EVOLVE’s relationship is portrayed in the suit.
A look at recent concussion and head trauma issues in wrestling as it relates to Matt Hardy and other recent situations in other companies is the lead story in the new issue of the Observer. We go through Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara, how it was handled, Reby Hardy’s reactions, AEW’s releases, as well as look at many other high profile situations in the last few years in New Japan and WWE, including Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar and how that match pretty much tells you that there will always be exceptions to concussion protocol.
Also in this issue:
Other risks taken in AEW of late, along with complete coverage of All Out, with business notes inculding PPV numbers, poll results,match-by-match coverage and star ratings.
WWE’s new policy on third party bookings, with WWE clarifying many issues, talent reactions, how things seemed to change during the week, as well as reaction from others in wrestling along with Andrew Yang.
G-1 Climax tournament including the blocks and favorites.
Appellate court ruling that threw out a series of lawsuits against WWE on different grounds. We look at the legal technicalities regarding why these cases had little chance from the start, the one aspect still open and reactions from both lawyers.
Latest firings by WWE, who was involved , why they were done now, plus a look at the career of Gerald Brisco.
Finn Balor vs. Adam Cole, Clash of Champions card, PPV schedule change, NXT UK TV show note, Styles talks retirement, AOP firing notes, Canadian ratings, Where WWE ranks in sports ratings, Cena new TV show, Lawler talks why WWE announcing has changed, WWE star nominated for an award, next week’s TV, WWE current market value as well as the most watched shows for the week on the WWE Network.
Complete coverage of this past Saturday’s UFC show.
The formation of a new pro wrestling group by a major corporation and how it differs from any group in the world as far as its main platform.
Ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
David Bixenspan is reporting that Matt Riddle has canceled a restraining order against Candy Cartwright (Samantha Tavel), who accused Riddle of sexual assault, 36 hours before their court date over the order was due to begin. Riddle had accused Tavel of several allegations including (quoted in the documents): “Committed stalking.”, “Previously threatened, harassed, stalked, cyberstalked, or physically abused the Petitioner.”, Threatened to harm Petitioner or family members or individuals closely associated with Petitioner.”, “Used, or threatened to use, against Petitioner any weapons such as guns or knives.”, “Destroyed personal property, including, but not limited to, telephones or other communication equipment, clothing, or other items belonging to Petitioner.”, and “Threatened to harm Petitioner or family members or individuals closely associated with Petitioner.”
Deadline reported that Chris McCumber, the president of the USA and SyFy networks, will be leaving NBC Universal after 19 years. He is considered to be the person who spearheaded the negotiations between NBC Universal and WWE that led to their current television deal.
AJ Styles on his Twitch stream said that prior to re-signing with WWE, he was in talks with AEW. “Yeah, there were talks,” Styles said. “It’s a business. My contract in WWE was going to expire and there were talks happening. The Bucks are my buddies. We never discussed money or anything but there were talks about coming in. Again, it’s all business.”
This week’s episode of The Bump featured Trish Stratus and Mickie James, WALTER, and Jonathan & Drew Scott of HGTV’s “Property Brothers”.
Shane McMahon will appear on WWE After the Bell with Corey Graves this week.
Paul Heyman, Jey Uso, and NXT Cruiserweight champion Santos Escobar have been announced for next week’s The Bump.
Io Shirai vs. Shotzi Blackheart will open tonight’s episode of NXT.
Our own Bryan Rose wrote a hands-on preview for WWE Battlegrounds, which comes out on September 18 for the PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC/Steam.
Other Wrestling
AEW has filed a trademark for “All Elite Wrestling – Elite General Manager”.
In the latest Aces High article, Hiroshi Tanahashi talked about his American influences and wrestling Scott Hall early in his career.
“Grizzly” Kal Jack has been added to Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport on October 11.
