Following his return to the ring Saturday on the first night of WWE WrestleMania 40, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson earned nearly 97,000 shares of TKO stock currently worth over $9 million.
The news was revealed in an SEC filing that came out late-Tuesday, required as Johnson sits on the TKO board. The 96,558 Class A shares fully vested Sunday, putting Johnson at 193,116 total shares owned according to the filing.
The shares were part of Johnson’s January 2024 deal to join the TKO board as the shares “vested upon completion of certain services described in that Independent Contractor Services and Merchandising Agreement…” Those services are assumed to be Johnson’s match that saw him team with Roman Reigns to take on Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins and all of the lead-up to the match itself.
The January arrangement also included Johnson gaining full IP ownership of “The Rock” name in addition to other character-related trademarks.
After Saturday’s show, Johnson intimated that he wasn’t done with in-ring action and on Monday’s WWE Raw, he told Rhodes that he would be coming for him at some point. Johnson is heading back to Hollywood to work on the A24 “Smashing Machine” movie and then the live-action Moana after that.
It’s unknown if Johnson will continue to earn vested stock for future matches.
As expected, WWE WrestleMania 40 was a massive financial success for TKO in their first such one under the new ownership regime.
The company sent out a release Tuesday pointing to several key highlights in what they are saying is the “most successful and highest-grossing event in company history.”
In the release, TKO stated this year’s WrestleMania broke last year’s gate record by 78% but did not provide the actual gate revenue. The company reported last year’s two-night event brought in more than $21.6 million in gate revenue which would mean this year’s two-night event generated nearly $38.5 million in gate revenue.
They did not provide a per-night breakdown of the gate number, but Paul “Triple” Levesque said Saturday that night one broke the company’s single-night gate record in WWE history which was previously held by WrestleMania 32’s $17.3 million.
They announced 145,298 in total attendance at Lincoln Financial Field which has yet to be independently corroborated.
Other reported highlights:
Viewership was up 41%. A breakout of Peacock vs. international WWE Network viewers was not provided, nor a definition of what “viewership” means to TKO.
Merchandise sales hit a new record, up more than 20% over last year’s WrestleMania 39. No financial specifics were provided.
In its first year, the company’s WWE World fan event, in partnership with Fanatics Events, was the highest-grossing and most-attended fan event in company history.
They reiterated the strength of the go-home SmackDown (largest gate in SD history), Raw after WrestleMania (largest gate in Raw history) and Saturday’s NXT Stand & Deliver which was the most attended NXT ever with an announced 16,545. However, they did not announce that the NXT gate was the largest ever.
Former WWE chairman Vince McMahon has continued to sell off his wealth of TKO shares, taking home nearly $100 million after selling 3.5 million shares to an unnamed bank over a 20-day stretch this month.
His latest move was revealed in SEC filings made public Thursday.
In total, McMahon has brought in more than $1.2 billion from the various sales. It’s unknown why he is selling so much of his stock and if there is a purpose for the considerable funds.
The filing stated that McMahon still owns 11.5 million TKO shares that have a current-day value of nearly $1 billion based on the $86.41 share price as of the close of the market Thursday.
The 78-year-old resigned as TKO executive chairman this past January after being accused of sex trafficking and sexual assault in a lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including the TKO/UFC lawsuit settlement and what it means for fighters and the suit itself, AEW Dynamite tonight in Toronto, NXT last night, another WWE corporate departure, and more. A fun show as always so check it out~!
TKO, parent company of WWE & UFC, has agreed to a settlement in a pair of class action lawsuits that have been in process for a decade: a settlement that will see the former pay out $335 million to former fighters.
The news was revealed Wednesday via an SEC filing. The settlement for both Cung Le vs. Zuffa and Kajan Johnson vs. Zuffa came on March 13th and is a far cry from the $1.6 billion that was originally sought for by plaintiffs like Le, Nate Quarry, Brandon Vera, Kyle Kingsbury, Jon Fitch and others.
Originally filed by Le in 2014, the antitrust suit included as many as 1200 fighters that competed in the UFC at least once between December 16, 2010, through June 30, 2017 and didn’t opt out of the suit. They collectively sued the UFC for lost wages and back pay, claiming the UFC signed them into long-term agreements and then bought up all of their competition, stifling the market.
The difference in the two cases is that while they are similar in nature, they came at different points in time with the Johnson case coming after fighters had signed waivers against being part of a class action lawsuit. The Johnson case was also looking for injunctive relief in addition to damages which would have changed how future contracts could be written. The Le case was seeking just damanges.
How the money is distributed amongst the 1200 fighters is unknown as of now. However, industry reporter John Nash speculated that there will be “likely almost zero damages for Johnson because most signed class action waivers.”
The Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association (MMAFA) posted on X that they are “pleased with the settlement and will disclose more when we file with the Court in 45-60 days.”
We are pleased with the settlement and will disclose more when we file with the Court in 45-60 days.
The $335 million will be paid out in installments over time and is likely to be tax deductible for TKO. After news of the lawsuit broke, TKO’s stock rose nearly $5 to $86.09 as of this writing.
Over the past year-plus, information has been revealed as part of discovery, including many unflattering text exchanges and emails regarding contracts with UFC personnel including Dana White and former UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta.
In antitrust lawsuits, defendants can be responsible for up to triple the damages, meaning TKO could have been on the hook for upward of $5 billion if the lawsuit went to trial and they lost.
Our Dave Meltzer has previously opined that the result of the lawsuit could open the door for a similar lawsuit by former WWE wrestlers.
Even though they have closed the book on WWE Raw’s next TV home, TKO leadership is already gearing up for their next big payday: the domestic rights package for WWE’s monthly premium live events.
Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology Media & Telecom Conference, TKO COO Mark Shapiro said that the current five-year deal with NBCUniversal to air the PLEs on Peacock is “underpriced.”
He didn’t blame either WWE or NBCU, saying that “the market catches up” but that the monthly events are “massively performing” for NBCU and higher than the expectations NBCU leadership had when they signed the deal.
Shapiro stated there is “insatiable demand” for the rights when they come up in 2026 and that they will look to renew with NBCU who has been a great partner who knows how to market WWE.
In January 2021, WWE announced that WWE Network would be heading to the Peacock streaming service in the U.S., later revealed as a five-year deal in the ballpark of $1 billion total.
When asked about whether Netflix would be interested in bringing on the domestic rights given they will have the international rights starting in January 2025, Shapiro said that with Netflix, Apple and other providers, the conversations always started with the question of when the PLE deal was up.
He said they want to walk before they run with Netflix, get out of the gate strong with Raw, and see how things go before talking about the domestic PLE rights if NBCUniversal doesn’t renew.
While most of the headlines coming out of Mark Shapiro’s Wednesday comments have revolved around Vince McMahon, the TKO COO did reveal an interesting fact about the initial WWE/Netflix talks.
Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology Media & Telecom Conference, Shapiro said that in the company’s talks with the streaming giant, NXT was the original point of discussion.
The two sides eventually came to a five-year, $5.2 billion deal to bring Raw to Netflix domestically starting in January 2025 in addition to all WWE programming, including PLEs, to Netflix internationally.
Shapiro said with the deal, they “cracked the code” with bringing live sports to Netflix and that the partnership alone “de-risked” the UFC/WWE merger that spawned TKO.
Shapiro is bullish on the deal that was driven by WWE CEO Nick Khan and TKO CFO Andrew Schleimer, mainly because of his confidence in Netflix’s marketing. He specifically mentioned WWE being highly visible when users log in to the service. He said it’s a good neighborhood to be in with Netflix and WWE, NBCUniversal and WWE, and UFC with Disney/ESPN.
He said the plan with Netflix is to be “very innovative” with the partnership, but that things are in the laboratory phase with possibilities. He wants to bring innovation to the deal with new technology, discussing how when he was with ESPN, they did the same with any new properties that came to the network.
“Netflix is very incentivized to bring the same technology innovation and disruption to WWE and we welcome it,” he said.
Other notes:
On the UFC side, Shapiro said they consider UFC one of the “big four” when it comes to TV given how much better their ratings are vs. the NHL. He talked a lot about the success they have brought to ESPN and ESPN+ where he said they are the anchor tenant.
Shapiro said they have not yet made a combined sponsorship pitch for WWE/UFC deals, but the team to do that just came into place in January so it’s early. He has a lot of confidence they will be able to grow the WWE sponsorship money in the same way they did with UFC, but possibly quicker given WWE’s “best in class” standing.
To that end, he reiterated they will focus on activating advertising inside the arena and that McMahon didn’t do things like selling ads on the mat. He did say that UFC’s ads on the Octagon mat are “arguably too muddy.”
He said the recent Anaheim WWE/UFC weekend was a great test for their dual threat approach of holding two shows in one venue and loved the “unplanned synergy” of athletes from both brands appearing on the other. They will look to replicate that, but it will be more of a long-term play with select situations.
He added that WrestleMania will see a big influence from WME (Endeavor’s talent agency) with “big celebs” coming.
TKO Group Holdings had no involvement in Vince McMahon’s recent selloff of company stock.
It was revealed earlier this week that McMahon was selling approximately 25 percent of his stock in TKO, which is the parent company of WWE and the UFC. McMahon is expected to receive more than $400 million from the sale. He will still own approximately 8.3 percent of the company following this stock sale.
While appearing at a conference presented by investment banking company Morgan Stanley on Wednesday, Endeavor and TKO executive Mark Shapiro confirmed that TKO “did not participate in the recent sale” of McMahon’s stock.
Shapiro is the president and chief operating officer of TKO. He stated that TKO is not in conversations with McMahon and does not know his motives for the stock sale.
āWe donāt know his motives, his plans or his timeline,” Shapiro said. “He doesnāt work for the company, doesnāt come into the office and heās not coming back to the company. And thatās where we sit.ā
McMahon resigned from WWE and TKO this January in the wake of the lawsuit that was filed against him by former WWE employee Janel Grant. McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis are named as defendants in the lawsuit. McMahon is accused of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking.
TKO was formed last September after Endeavor’s acquisition of WWE became official. McMahon was executive chairman of TKO prior to his resignation.
McMahon also sold off some of his TKO stock last November. At the time, he sold approximately 30 percent of the stock that he owned.
Former TKO Group Holdings executive chairman Vince McMahon is selling roughly 25 percent of his remaining stock in the company.
According to an SEC filing from Monday, McMahon is selling 5.35 million shares of TKO stock in a transaction being handled by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
McMahon is expected to pocket more than $400 million from the sale. TKO stock closed on Monday at $81.67 a share.
While the sale represents approximately 25 percent of the stock McMahon still owns in TKO, Dave Meltzer reports in Monday’s Daily Update that McMahon will still own roughly 8.3 percent of the company. Meltzer writes:
Vince McMahon today sold 5,350,000 shares of WWE stock, which is about 6.5 percent of the company, for $411.95 million. With the sale he now owns 8.3 percent of the company.
The 5.35 million shares represent approximately 6.5 percent of TKO Group Holdings shares.
This latest transaction is the second major stock sale that McMahon has made over the last five months, as the disgraced former executive sold an additional 8.4 million shares worth roughly $700 million last November.
McMahon resigned as executive chairman of TKO in January after being accused of sex trafficking and sexual assault in a lawsuit filed by a former WWE employee.
New details regarding Vince McMahon’s resignation from TKO Group Holdings were revealed today in an article by The Hollywood Reporter.
The report cites multiple sources stating the graphic details in Janel Grant’s lawsuit against WWE, McMahon, and John Laurinaitis took top TKO executives by surprise. It also notes that Mark Shapiro and Ari Emanuel called McMahon and requested he resign the day after the lawsuit was filed.Ā
The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin wrote:
By the time the Royal Rumble began, McMahon was gone from TKO, seemingly for good, as (TKO) sought to distance itself from McMahonās alleged past transgressions.
Those concerns culminated the evening of Jan. 26, when Emanuel and TKO president and COO Mark Shapiro called McMahon and told him it would be in the best interest of the company for him to resign. He agreed, and submitted his resignation.
Slim Jim pulling their sponsorship from the Royal Rumble in the wake of Grant’s lawsuit was said to be a tipping point for TKO.
TKO also reached out to WWE’s broadcast partners following news of the lawsuit.
Sources say that TKO executives reached out to all of the companyās rights partners after the news broke, well aware of the need to keep them in the loop on what was happening.
One source noted to the Hollywood Reporter that had Grant’s lawsuit been filed earlier, the $5 billion deal with Netflix may have been put into jeopardy.
Multiple sources stated that the graphic details included in the lawsuit took TKO executives and WWE talent by surprise.
The report continues:
According to multiple sources, the lawsuit and the graphic details included in it took senior leadership at TKO and company talent by surprise.
In addition to being asked to resign from the company, McMahon is also the focus of a federal investigation into allegations of sexual abuse and sex trafficking. Investigators are said to have met with several women in recent months who have also accused McMahon of sexual misconduct.
WSJ’s report reads:
The other women named in the grand jury subpoena include a WWE contractor whom McMahon allegedly sent unsolicited nude photos and sexually harassed; a former WWE wrestler who said McMahon coerced her into giving him oral sex; former WWE referee Rita Chatterton, who publicly accused McMahon of raping her; a spa manager who said McMahon assaulted her at a Southern California resort; and a former WWE employee who alleged the head of talent relations at the company at the time, John Laurinaitis, demoted her after she broke off an affair with him.”
McMahon, 78, the most important figure in the history of pro wrestling and its greatest promoter, is likely to have his lasting memory, like Harvey Weinstein, as a loathsome sexual predator as opposed to the architect of a multi-billion dollar business.
The Rock says it’s a privilege to “sit at the table” his family helped build.
TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE & UFC, announced on January 23 that Rock would be joining its Board of Directors. He released a statement on Tuesday via social media thanking TKO for the opportunity.
The Rock wrote:
My honor to join @TKOGrp Board of Directors (parent co who owns @WWE @UFC)
An historic day of big business with deep and personal ālife comes full circleā significance for me.
I have the privilege now to sit at the table, that my grandfather and my dad helped to build.
Now the fun part – we go to work.
We build.
Thanks to all you guys out there for your support and hype.
And thank you to my TKO/WWE partners-
Ari Emmanuel
Mark Shapiro
Nick Khan
Paul āTriple Hā Levesque
My honor to join @TKOGrp Board of Directors (parent co who owns @WWE@UFC)
An historic day of big business with deep and personal ālife comes full circleā significance for me.
I have the privilege now to sit at the table, that my grandfather and my dad helped to build.
On the Day 1 edition of Raw, Rock returned to WWE and teased fans with a potential match against Roman Reigns by asking the live crowd if he should “sit at the head of the table” when he goes out to eat later that night.
The deal with The Rock to serve on the TKO Group Holdings Board of Directors also includes a merchandising agreement between the two parties. Rock released the below statement shortly after the deal was announced:
Johnson said:
My grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia, and my dad, Rocky āSoulmanā Johnson, wouldāve never thought this day would come. Which is why Iām very humbled to have a seat at the table that has decades of history and family legacy for me. A table that my family helped to build. Being on the TKO Board of Directors, and taking full ownership of my name, āThe Rock,ā is not only unprecedented, but incredibly inspiring as my crazy life is coming full circle. At my core, Iām a builder who builds for and serves the people, and Ari is building something truly game changing. Iām very motivated to help continue to globally expand our TKO, WWE, and UFC businesses as the worldwide leaders in sports and entertainment ā while proudly representing so many phenomenal athletes and performers who show up every day putting in the hard work with their own two hands to make their dreams come true and deliver for our audiences. Iāve been there, Iām still there and this is for them.
One of the largest issues in the history of the Observer is out this week:
The Janel Grant lawsuit against Vince McMahon
Analysis of the lawsuit and different claims
Details of the claims
Comments from all sides
Just how vulgar some of the stories were
What the text messages show
The Netflix detail and full details
The economics of the deal
How much money WWE is guaranteed without selling one ticket or selling any merchandise or advertising or sponsorships
Background of the negotiations
Dwayne Johnson on the Board of Directors
More on 2025 plans
Nick Khan, Dwayne Johnson and other comments
How this affects AEW
Difference between AEW & WWE audience when it comes to college education and household earnings
Ratings going forward
Mark Shapiro’s new contract
AEW house show issues and what has to be done and changes expected to be made
Issues with the events
A look at the Royal Rumble
Full UFC 297 coverage
UFC signs Kayla Harrison and her biggest test
A look at the career of new UFC Hall of Famer Frankie Edgar
2023 Awards ballot
A look at the life of Harold “Ice Train” Hoag
The most detailed look at the ratings of all the wrestling TV shows of the past week, segment highs and lows, comparisons with one year ago and competition
Friday night at Arena Mexico
TripleMania plans
AAA plans on using controversial names
More on AAA 2024 plans
Stardom awards
Why Shuji Ishikawa left All Japan
Three generations of the same family and Japanese major bouts
Hiroshi Tanahashi talks Kazuchika Okada leaving
Okada’s left match at Korakuen Hall
Update on Iron Claw movie
Puerto Rico show featuring major names
Notes on the next season of Dark Side of the Ring
Top indie star to come out of retirement
Updated AEW & TNA PPV numbers
Update on Kazuchika Okada and Mercedes Mone destinations
Peacock ads subscribers leading into RoyalRumble
WWE injury updates
Nick Khan talks about his introduction to WWE
Cena talks his future
International TV ratings
What three pro wrestlers are in the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame
Bryan and I will be back up tonight talking the fallout of the press conference, Royal Rumble injuries and the rest of the news of the week with Wrestling Observer radio tonight.
There has been a lot of mainstream press yesterday and today regarding Vince McMahon stepping down and questioning why Endeavor ever allowed him to stay, as well as the press conference stuff. Some stuff includes: New York Times, Deadline, CNN.
We’ll be talking a lot more about this tonight.
We’re looking for your thoughts on the Royal Rumble, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
WWE stock fell 4.4 percent today to $82.73. It’s now almost back to where it was before the Netflix announcement was made. The drop in this case is related to the lawsuit news and it leading to the departure of Vince McMahon as well as the handling of the situation with people questioning why, since this should have been known in a 2022 investigation, did all this come out now and why he was still in the company. Also, while Vince was not involved in running creative , the idea his Chairman position was figurehead is also not accurate and he was the guy who made the UFC’s deal in Saudi Arabia so he absolutely was one of the most powerful people in the company until this past week.
As noted earlier today, C.M. Punk suffered a torn right triceps in taking the Future shock DDT from Drew McIntyre in the Rumble. He worked several minutes on it. He will address the issue and it relating to WrestleMania on Raw tonight. If he can’t do WrestleMania, this heavily changes the show which was already changed due to the decision to not use Brock Lesnar any time soon. The torn triceps he suffered in 2022 in the match with Jon Moxley was the left triceps.
Raw tonight is from Tampa and they have a sellout of 12,500+ in the building. Bayley will be on the show. Damian Priest & Finn Balor defend the tag titles against Johnny Gargano & Tomasso Ciampa. Gunther defends the IC title against Kofi Kingston. Jey Uso faces Bronson Reed. The first hour is commercial free. The show is expected to draw the largest ratings in months, both because it’s the show after the Rumble (last year’s similar show did 2,114,000 viewers and 0.64 in 18-49. And all the WWE publicity from the Vince McMahon thing has always led in the past to big ratings increases for a week.
We’re looking for reports from Tampa, with Main Event matches and anything else from the live show to [email protected]
Jeff Hardy will be doing a concert on 4/5 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia after the Mark Hitchcock Memorial show.
Very sad to report the death of the mother of Nikola Bogojevic (Otis) over the weekend.
Dwayne Johnson is the Grand Marshal for the Daytona 500 on 2/18.
Thursday’s TNA show has Chris Bey & Ace Austin vs. Grizzled Young Veterans as part of a best of three series over the tag titles, plus Nic Nemeth vs. Trey Miguel.
NWA Powerrr debuts on the CW app on 2/9.
Alexa Bliss was backstage at the Rumble.
Today’s results from the Jericho Cruise:Nick Wayne b Colt Cabana, Gisele Shaw b Steph De Lander, Swerve Strickland & Toa Liona & Bishop Kaun b Action Andretti & Darius & Dante Martin, Michael Coku b Matt Cardona to win the Oceanic title
AEW Dynamite on Wednesday is Deonna Purrazzo vs. Taya Valkyrie, Adam Page vs. Toa Liona, Swerve Strickland vs. Rob VanDam, and Chris Jericho vs. Kyle Fletcher in a non-title match.
Pro Wrestling Eve Shevolution on 2/1 with Safire Reed and Eve champion Nina Samuels each picking their opponent, with Reed vs. Harley Hudson and Samuels vs. LA Taylor. The show is at the Penny Social in Walthamstow in London, UK.
Glory is bringing back the old heavyweight one-night man man kickboxing tournaments on 3/9 at the GeireDome football stadium in Annheim, the Netherlands. The winner gets $500,000. Rico Verhoevn, Levi Rigters, Tariq Osaro, Nordine Mahieddine, Solfan Laidouni, Uku Jurjendal, Bahram Rajabzadeh and Nabil Khachab are the eight men involved.
TKO Group Holdings has confirmed Vince McMahon’s resignation.
The company submitted an SEC filing on Monday officially recognizing that McMahon is no longer with the company.
TKO’s filing reads:
On January 26, 2024, Vincent K. McMahon notified the board of directors (the āBoardā) of TKO Group Holdings, Inc. (āTKOā) of his resignation from his positions as Executive Chair and a member of the Board, and any other positions, employment or otherwise, he has at TKO and its subsidiaries, in each case, with immediate effect as of January 26, 2024.
McMahon’s resignation came one day after former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit against him, WWE, and John Laurinaitis. The suit accuses McMahon of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking. McMahon later released a statement denying the allegations. He issued a further statement on Friday announcing he was resigning.
McMahon’s statement from January 26 reads:
I stand by my prior statement that Ms. Grantās lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and is a vindictive distortion of the truth. I intend to vigorously defend myself against these baseless accusations, and look forward to clearing my name.
However, out of respect for the WWE Universe, the extraordinary TKO business and its board members and shareholders, partners and constituents, and all of the employees and Superstars who helped make WWE into the global leader it is today, I have decided to resign from my executive chairmanship and the TKO board of directors, effectively immediately.
Our own Dave Meltzer wrote about Vince McMahon and Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s handling of the situation at the Royal Rumble press conference in Sunday’s Daily Update.
Meltzer wrote:
Vince isn’t coming back, but we do have to look at the top of TKO, and that’s not Levesque or even Nick Khan, but it is Ari Emanuel who made the decision to keep him in the company after so much had already come out and those on the Board who did a investigation and never interviewed Janel Grant, who was the person whose story ultimately started the ball rolling to uncover multiple payoffs. I don’t think Levesque was hung out to dry on purpose, nor is this a defense of him, but once they decided to do the press conference, he needed to be prepped on what to say and they failed him badly.
Editor’s Note: This was recorded prior to the news of the Vince McMahon/Janel Grant lawsuit and McMahon’s resignation from TKO.
On Saturday’s Wrestling Observer Live, it’s time for the Royal Rumble — one of the most fun and popular PLEs on the WWE calendar and where fans get an idea of what to expect at WrestleMania.
It was a historic week for WWE with the announcements that Raw will be streaming on Netflix starting next January and that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is now on the TKO board and he has regained all rights to his wrestling name.
We are also going to have a little fun and talk wrestling video games with Patrick from the YouTube channel PatmanQC: History of Arcade Games. He’s played every WWE 2K game and tons more. We’ll get his thoughts on the upcoming WWE 2K24 game and then reminisce about everything from WrestleFest to Fire Pro and more.
For the first time since news of Janel Grant’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon broke, her lawyer spoke for the first time publicly to shed some insight into what Grant wants, what she alleges to have experienced, and if she thinks there are other victims.
On Crime Fix as part of the Law & Crime Network, Ann Callis said Grant was “physically and mentally destroyed” by what she alleges McMahon did to her during her tenure at WWE, later stating Grant “literally felt caged and imprisoned by Vince McMahon and….the escalation of degrading things that happened to her, itās important for it to come out.”
In the lawsuit, Grant alleges she was the victim of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault and trafficking that began after she met McMahon when they were living in the same apartment building and continued through her three years as an employee.
“She believes (filing the suit) is the first step. Filing this lawsuit took some tremendous courage from her. She was in an extremely vulnerable position when she first encountered Vince McMahon,” she said, explaining Grant’s parents had died and she needed a job.
She continued, “So already, besides being in an inordinately uneven playing field between Vince McMahon and Janel, our client, she still tried to conduct herself… tried to be the best possible employee for the WWE that she could be under the most devastating and sexually depraved circumstances.ā
Grant’s $3 million hush money settlement and NDA with McMahon led to him being investigated by the WWE Board of Directors in 2022. However, she is alleging she was only paid $1 million and is seeking to both void the agreement and NDA, and get unspecified financial damages.
McMahon’s spokesperson said he will “vigorously defend himself” against the claims being made. McMahon resigned from his position as executive chairman of TKO Friday night and will no longer have anything to do with TKO or WWE.
Callis feels there are other victims out there, including ones that might not necessarily have worked for WWE.
āJust the way that the grooming of Janel went on, it just indicates that are a lot of indicators that there may be, and probably are, other victims out there. One of Janelās hopes is that by coming forward, she will give the courage to other victims to come forward,” she said.
Callis said while they are gathering witnesses for a trial, Grant didn’t personally know anyone else in WWE that experienced something similar.
The lawyer went further into what Grant wants out of this lawsuit that was filed against McMahon, John Laurinaitis and WWE.
āShe wants her life back. She wants ownership of her story. She wants to help other victims. This is relatively close in time, 2019 when this unfolded, 2020, and her hope is to help other victims, if there are other victims, to come forward because she had the courage and the presence of mind to finally get this done and come forward,” she said.
She later relayed a statement for Grant:
āThat she hopes any doors of secrecy have been blown off their hinges, and that fresh air fills the headquarters. She hopes those at the company, past and present, who fear speaking out about harm is a thing of the past. She wishes everyone peace.”
