Tag: Vince McMahon

WOL Saturday: New court documents focus more on Vince McMahon’s alleged misconduct than valuation & revenue

Posted on by Jim Valley

It’s the Saturday Wrestling Observer Live with Jim Valley.

Are Janel Grant and her accusations ultimately responsible for the TKO merger of Zuffa and WWE? That appears to be at the heart of the case made by the plaintiffs in the WWE shareholders’ lawsuit. Documents made public for the first time offer insight into events surrounding the merger and the opening arguments for attorneys representing WWE shareholders.

While the trial that was scheduled to start Monday is now off the calendar, thousands of pages of depositions, text conversations, and other documents unsealed before trial offer a window into how the deal allegedly came together.

On this episode, I will try to explain why the lawsuit is, or was, about more about behavior than numbers, stocks and balance sheets.

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LA Knight details early frustrations after WWE call-up, bizarre Vince McMahon instructions

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

LA Knight recently reflected on his WWE main-roster call-up and conversation with Vince McMahon.

Despite being one of the most popular and over wrestlers on the WWE roster, Knight has not yet enjoyed a dominant main-roster run. In addition to his current lack of direction, Knight also had some early main-roster call-up frustrations.

In a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet on Insight, the former WWE United States Champion recalled his jump to the main roster and transition to Max Dupri from LA Knight.

“Vince [McMahon] told me before, ‘You gotta talk soft, I don’t want you to say or do any of the things that you used to do, none of that, whatever.’ If I’m honest, though, he wasn’t familiar with any of it. He didn’t know LA Knight. I think he was told a little bit,” Knight said.

The 43-year-old further said that while McMahon was impressed with his singles match against Roderick Strong, he hesitated because of his age. McMahon was allegedly not interested in pushing a 39-year-old Knight and instead wanted him as a manager.

“That first day of introducing the models, and we’re doing the little rehearsal thing, talk-through. And he comes down, and he’s like, ‘I need you to talk softer.’ And I’m like, okay, well, I’m thinking like, you had me talking soft in the backstage, but like now I’m doing a presentation. I need to be a little bigger, right? To present to the people. But it’s his show. Sure. And he goes, ‘Just read me a line from there as softly as you can.’ He’s like, ‘I don’t think you can be effeminate, but try and be effeminate without being effeminate.’ What?” he added.

What was the idea behind LA Knight’s Max Dupri character in WWE?

Further continuing the conversation, Knight recalled how he was initially given the impression that the Max Dupri character would take a trajectory similar to Roddy Piper.

“The bill of goods that was sold to me there was that I was going to be kind of a Roddy Piper. In the sense of when Roddy first came in, he was like a manager, a mouthpiece that then sometimes wrestled, and then eventually just became a full-time wrestler. That was kind of how it was painted to me.”

Paired with Maxxine Dupri on the main roster, the Max Dupri character never took off, and the former champion was slowly transitioned back into his LA Knight character.

Kaitlyn reveals Total Divas influenced WWE creative decisions despite Vince McMahon’s promise

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Kaitlyn revealed the influence Total Divas had on WWE’s creative decisions despite initial assurances that it would remain separate from on-screen storylines. 

During her interview with TMZ’s Inside The Ring, Kaitlyn talked about Total Divas’ influence on WWE storylines and booking decisions despite Vince McMahon informing them it would remain unaffected. She cited her reserved nature may have limited opportunities in the company. 

“And Vince promised us, promised the women’s division Total Divas is not going to have any influence on storylines. And then WrestleMania comes around and that’s when they were debuting the show. They were introducing the concept of Total Divas and it literally took the place of a women’s title match on Wrestlemania. So it kind of set the tone for it. And so after that happened, I was just like ‘Okay, the title doesn’t mean anything, I don’t mean, like what do I represent?’ And so it was I think that was actually a big part of this downhill slope that I was on that led to me asking for my release. I just didn’t feel I was just, I guess I don’t matter in this scheme of things.”

The former Divas Champion iterated that there did not seem to be any mitigation of the tension among the women’s division at the time. She named Fit Finlay as the one producer who assisted in the situation but after he left it fell apart. 

“Not that I know of. Like I don’t think there was really any mitigation of drama at any point.”

“Back in the day when I was there, it didn’t really seem like it was, nobody wanted to be the one that had to try to smooth situations out with the women. Fit Finley was the one who helped us, was the agent and producer of all of our matches. And then when Fit unfortunately had to leave the company for a year, during that year it was, the producer that got our matches were, it’s almost like it was a punishment for them.” 

“So nobody wanted to agent our matches number one because we were all trying to get over and be the one that was on top and so we all had five minutes for matches. And so it was not a lot of fun to try to put together a match for the women and they didn’t know how to, nobody knew how to handle it and so it was kind of just like you know it was. So I never noticed any type of mitigation of the tension.”

“And I never experienced it. So if it was happening, I wasn’t involved in it, but what I noticed is that everybody was just like ‘you know, you’re lucky and you’re on Total Divas or you’re not and that kind of sucks.’ That’s kind of how it felt.” 

Total Divas premiered on E! in 2013 to give fans a behind-the-scenes preview of the professional and personal ongoing events in the lives of WWE’s female talent. The show ran for nine seasons before the Total Bellas spin-off. 

R-Truth credits Vince McMahon for John Cena childhood hero narrative 

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

R-Truth credited Vince McMahon for his promo and gimmick citing John Cena is his childhood idol. 

Truth revealed on the Six Feet Under Podcast that his promo declaring Cena as his childhood hero was written by McMahon. 

“That was a Vince write. Vince wrote that. And the first time I did the promo and said I grew up watching Cena. You know, I would sit there and watch him do his Saturday morning, you know what I’m saying, challenges. And people bought it. They bit hard. He grew up watching John Cena and John Cena is his childhood hero. They went with it, you know what I’m saying. They (the fans) did.”

Truth initially asked Cena if he could imitate his signature look with the jorts, and he ideated the Ron Cena t-shirt. 

“I called John and asked him, could I use his shorts. John suggested I do the moves. He said, you should do everything. This shirt, Ron Cena, was John’s idea. He said, I think you do the shirt the same way I do mine. And you put your face there. I was like, I said, you serious? He was like, yeah, we’re brothers, right? I said. That is genius. Like he’s so smart. He was smart with the whole thing with it, man. And I just ran with it. It works, right?”

Last year, during Cena’s heel turn, Truth made an effort to confront his ways. He also took on the Ron Cena persona, imitating Cena’s signature attire and claiming to be his brother. 

When Truth returned a week later from being released in 2025, he targeted Cena at Money in the Bank which ultimately led to their showdown at SNME in May. 

Ex-WWE writer says Vince McMahon considered New Day a ‘national treasure’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Chris Dunn, a former writer for WWE, believes New Day would have been with WWE forever if Vince McMahon was still in charge of the company.

Appearing on the Public Enemies Podcast, Dunn reacted to WWE’s post-WrestleMania 42 roster cuts, which included Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods being released. Dunn believes TKO is sometimes used as a scapegoat for WWE’s issues, pointing out that McMahon made these types of releases too. But Dunn doesn’t think McMahon would have asked talent to take pay cuts like Kingston & Woods were offered. According to Dunn, McMahon considered New Day a “national treasure.”

“Vince was making these cuts too. There was always spring cleaning,” Dunn said. “I think the difference is, like, Vince never would have asked anyone to take a pay cut. He would have either fired the person or they would have been somebody like the New Day, who he considered a national treasure — wouldn’t job out when he was trying to embarrass Road Dogg — and keep them forever because they should stay.”

Kingston & Woods chose to depart WWE instead of taking the significant pay cuts they (and some others) were approached with. Big E is still with the company in a broadcasting role after having to retire from in-ring competition due to the broken neck he suffered in 2022.

New Day at WWE Survivor Series 2018 —

Dunn was referring to Survivor Series 2018 as the time where McMahon embarrassed Road Dogg, who was running SmackDown then. McMahon had SmackDown lose every match at the pay-per-view except for a pre-show brand vs. brand tag bout.

“There was a Survivor Series where [Road Dogg] was running SmackDown. I think he was at home for a creative meeting and calling into it. And to f*** with Road Dogg, Vince, in a meeting, decided SmackDown was going to lose every match on Survivor Series,” Dunn said. “And then we got to, I think the New Day match came up when New Day was on SmackDown. So it was like, we can’t have New Day lose, let’s put them on kickoff. So it would be defined as New Day would win, but it wouldn’t count as a win for SmackDown because it was on the kickoff show. All to rib Road Dogg.”

Though they were ultimately on the winning side, Woods did take a pinfall in that match to eliminate New Day. It was The Usos who won the multi-team match for SmackDown.

Dunn was with WWE as a writer and producer from 2016-2021. He described Road Dogg as the “best mind in wrestling” who combines McMahon and Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s best qualities into one. According to Dunn, Road Dogg was someone who advocated for talent and advocated for ideas that appeal to true fans.

Road Dogg’s most recent stint with WWE creative ended this March when he chose to resign from his position as co-lead writer of SmackDown.

WOL: New Japan ownership transfer, McMahon lawsuit, NXT TV

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Filthy Tom Lawlor is back with tons to talk about including the New Japan ownership transfer, questions about the Vince McMahon shareholder lawsuit and what the latest is, the NXT TV report from Tuesday night, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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Vince McMahon, Nick Khan sanctioned in WWE shareholder lawsuit

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Vince McMahon and his fellow defendants have been dealt a blow in the ongoing shareholder lawsuit related to Endeavor’s acquisition of WWE.

A group of shareholders is suing McMahon and then-WWE board members Nick Khan, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Michelle Wilson, and George Barrios, alleging that McMahon steered the company’s 2023 sale/merger process to Endeavor so that he would end up in a favorable position under the new regime. The claim is that McMahon, with promises from Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel, was influenced to go in this direction instead of considering other bids that would have been more financially beneficial to the company and its shareholders.

The trial is scheduled to begin on June 8. Ahead of that, the judge has ruled that McMahon and Khan “acted recklessly” by using the messaging app Signal and changing their settings so that messages would automatically delete after a short period of time. Because of that spoliation (destruction) of evidence, the judge has sanctioned the defendants. The sanctions mean the burden of proof has shifted and the defense is tasked with showing the following is not true:

  • Emanuel’s promise to provide Vince with a continued role at any post-merger company after a transaction influenced Vince’s decision-making with respect to the merger.
  • Emanuel’s offer of indemnification and other legal support related to pending federal investigations of Vince’s alleged misconduct influenced Vince’s decision-making with respect to the merger.
  • Vince decided to pursue a transaction with Endeavor in 2022, before the Company initiated the strategic review process.
  • Khan communicated with Emanuel between August and December 2022 to facilitate a transaction between WWE and Endeavor.
  • Vince and Khan worked with Raine [banking company] to steer the process toward a deal with Endeavor and away from other potential bidders.

McMahon, Khan, Levesque, Stephanie McMahon, and former WWE executive Brad Blum are listed as the group of people who used Signal and its auto-delete function. Though Wilson and Barrios were not Signal users, the judge says this ruling is not unfair to them because it is only related to McMahon and Khan’s conduct and does not assume others knew about it or were involved.

Neither WWE nor TKO are defendants in the suit. Though McMahon did hold a high-ranking executive position in TKO after the sale, he is no longer employed by the company after resigning in January 2024 in the wake of the sexual abuse allegations made in Janel Grant’s lawsuit.

This shareholder suit will include testimony from McMahon, Khan, Levesque, Emanuel, TKO’s Mark Shapiro, and others.

Vince McMahon, Triple H & other TKO executives to testify in WWE shareholder trial

Posted on by Josh Nason

With the WWE shareholder trial set to begin on June 8, the list of witnesses that will testify is a notable one.

First reported by Post Wrestling’s Brandon Thurston, Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, Paul Levesque, Ari Emanuel, Mark Shapiro and others will be testifying in the trial that begins next month in Delaware.

The lawsuit was filed by a group of WWE shareholders who feel the process to merge WWE with UFC to create TKO was a predetermined process designed by McMahon to keep himself in power. The shareholders feel that because of that, they didn’t get the full potential value of a WWE sale.

McMahon was in power until January 2024 when the Janel Grant lawsuit was filed, resulting in him resigning.

Other notable witnesses include former WWE executives and Board members George Barrios, Michelle Wilson and Frank Riddick, former WWE Board member Steve Koonin, banker Jeff Sine who advised WWE in making the deal, TKO CFO Andrew Schleimer and TKO chief strategy officer Mark Zhu.

Some witnesses will appear live while others may appear via video or via pre-recorded deposition testimony like former WWE Board members, Stephanie McMahon, Jeffrey Speed and Steve Pamon.

Liberty Media CEO Marty Patterson is also on the witness list as the company was among those bidding for WWE.

It remains a possibility the lawsuit will be settled pre-trial or even after it starts.

Could Vince McMahon work with Jake Paul? Jeff Jarrett thinks so

Posted on by Jake Skudder

Jake Paul’s MVP promotion recently held their first MMA event this past weekend, with Ronda Rousey vs Gina Carano doing some big numbers on Netflix. While Paul’s company is still promoting Boxing and seemingly doing a pretty good job of it, who could they bring in to take it to the next level? According to Jeff Jarrett, Vince McMahon could be the man to do it.

Speaking on his My World podcast, Jarrett said “I’d love that” when asked if he could see Paul and McMahon working together in a promotional capacity, adding: “Vince…you can say he doesn’t bat a thousand, look at football, look at bodybuilding etc, I get it. But for every quote unquote failure, look at all the successes Vince has had. And I’m not just talking about the broad stroke of WWE, the amount of successes that he had to build that thing over and over and over, and I’m not just talking about Monday nights, I’m talking about TV deals, rights, fees, international deals, the pivot into social media, all kinds of things.“

Jeff Jarrett on Vince McMahon working with Jake Paul

Jarrett would also question who actually is the ‘MVP’ of the MVP company, questioning if Paul currently has a “Pat Patterson” type in his corner and whether Vince McMahon could be that guy: “Who is Jake Paul’s team, his inner circle? Who is his Pat Patterson? Who is his Joe Silva like matchmaker? Who is MVP?”

As we reported last year, Former WWE chairman Vince McMahon’s plans to launch a sports, entertainment & media investment firm, and plans have been moving forward with a filing revealing the name of the new venture. First reported by Wrestlenomics, the company will be called 14TH & I with the focus on opportunities within the three spaces mentioned above. Whether that could mean McMahon getting into business with MVP, whilst being a shareholder in TKO, remains to be seen.

Judge rules against McMahons, allows ring boy plaintiffs to stay anonymous for now

Posted on by Joseph Currier

For at least the pre-trial period, plaintiffs in the ongoing lawsuit related to WWE’s ring boy scandal will be allowed to stay anonymous.

Post Wrestling reports that James K. Bredar, a federal judge in Maryland, is allowing the ring boy plaintiffs to maintain their “John Doe” pseudonyms, rejecting efforts from Vince McMahon and Linda McMahon to have their names publicly revealed. The ruling will hold for the pre-trial period but could change once the lawsuit goes to trial.

The lawsuit was first filed in 2024 and lists the two McMahons, WWE, and TKO as defendants. WWE and TKO did not take a stance on whether the plaintiffs should be forced to have their names revealed.

This lawsuit concerns WWE’s ring boy scandal of the 1980s/1990s, where former ring announcer Mel Phillips is accused of having recruited teenagers to the ring crew for the purpose of sexually abusing them. One of the plaintiffs is also claiming to have been abused by Pat Patterson. Phillips and Patterson passed away in 2012 and 2020.

Vince McMahon, Linda McMahon, WWE, and TKO are being sued for negligence over their handling of the scandal and not protecting the ring boys from being abused.

There are eight plaintiffs involved in the lawsuit. In this matter, they argued that revealing their identities would “re-traumatize” them by publicly exposing the abuse they endured and even revealing it to people in their lives they have not told. Their identities are known to the defendants who are being sued.

Former Ridge Holland believes Vince McMahon & Bruce Prichard messed with him following Big E incident | Exclusive

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

Following Ridge Holland’s traumatic incident with Big E, the former WWE wrestler recently revealed how Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard possibly messed with him after that.

In an exclusive interview with F4Wonline, Holland opened up on the ‘extremely difficult’ aftermath he faced following the incident with Big E. “ It was extremely difficult. Obviously, I’ll always preface it by saying the main point is that making sure that Big E was okay, and he’s all good now, and he’s healthy. But at the time, from a personal standpoint, it was probably one of the hardest times of my life. Coming in as a relatively unknown entertainer onto the main roster and then you know, being involved in an accident which put one of the biggest stars in the company on the shelf,” he said.

“So, from like death threats to all the social media things, it kind of marred my…kind of like drove a certain perception of me with fans that I struggled to kind of shake. And I’m sure that kind of went up into the, you know, the higher up into the office and stuff. And I just think their confidence in me, and especially my confidence in my own performance, was definitely affected ’cause I didn’t really wanna get in the ring. I was very nervous about getting in the ring after that. It shook me. So, yeah, it affected everything, home life, everything.”

However, when asked how the incident affected his working relationship with WWE and the higher-ups, Holland revealed an incident that he believes Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard did to mess with him.

“So initially, I was offered to go to counseling and stuff like that. Like it would be like, you know, obviously, like speak to someone, which I declined at that minute. I just didn’t really wanna speak to anyone, to be honest. The initial backlash, obviously, it’s funny ’cause the week, the week after, which I thought was kind of rough, they wanted me to do an apology promo live before I went out for a match.

“And I remember there were Vince [McMahon] and Bruce [Prichard] standing there, and they were counting down like thirty seconds till we go live. And I’m thinking, ‘I don’t know what I’m gonna say. I’m just gonna speak from the heart.’ And then it got to like five, four, and then they cut it. They just didn’t do promos right then. And then I had to go out and wrestle a match. So I think that was in poor taste. I think they did that to mess with me, and it really put a bad taste in my mouth, and I never really looked at those people the same, to be honest. I thought it was in really poor taste,” Holland finished.

Despite not being close friends with Big E, Holland respects the former WWE Champion and recently exchanged pleasantries with him at WWE WrestleMania 42. “I’ve had a couple of, you know, conversations with Big E. I actually saw him at WrestleMania. You know, I met his fiancée, and we just swapped pleasantries. You know, we were never close friends, but you know, I respect him, and I hope that goes both ways. I sent him some things, you know, to say sorry and profusely apologized, and I was in contact with him via text, you know, for days and weeks after, after the accident, checking in.“

The incident led to a lack of confidence in Holland, which he believes kept hanging over him. “It was tough just trying to kinda find myself again as a performer because I really was, on the main roster, being kinda like a Sheamus’ lackey. I never really got to find that area of like character development and wrestle like how I wanted to wrestle or be given the time to develop. And then obviously, with that hanging over me came confidence issues and stuff. So it kind of affected me. And the fans kinda labeled me as being unsafe and not being able to wrestle, and that followed me through, and it probably will for quite a while. So just trying to prove to myself that I am good at this, which I know I am. And trying to prove the naysayers wrong.“

Despite all the setbacks, Holland found his flow and enjoyed a successful second run in WWE NXT, Evolve, and TNA, before suffering an injury and getting released.

Ridge Holland looks back at his TNA injury and WWE release

Following a brief two-year run on the main roster, Holland returned to NXT. Looking back at his second NXT run under Shawn Michaels, he shared, “You know, we came in, and it was my idea to kind of run with the dangerous kinda, always injuring people. So that was my thing. I always wanted to come back, and the arc was to try a redemption arc. So I was always trying to do good, but things kept going wrong. And then the heel turn came. It’s when I started to realize, ‘Well, maybe I’m good at it. This is what I should do. Maybe I should be hurting people.’”

However, the incident with Ilja Dragunov became another turning point in his career. “But then, when the Ilja [Dragunov] thing happened, it got a great reaction. You know, it was all over social media and everything, and then I got the word that the higher-ups said it was too close to the bone, so they had to call me off. That’s what it felt like for my whole NXT run. I would get, you know, get hot and then something would happen. I’d get hot, and something would happen. But I thought I was probably the best heel on the show leading up to the Chase U thing. Yeah. I thought I was getting great heat, great reactions. There was never a silent moment in the crowd, and it was weird.”

Looking back at his second NXT and Evolve run, Holland believes he was lied to by WWE management, who kept assuring him everything was okay despite removing him from televised programs.

“I just got dropped off TV after the, after I lost to Ricky Saints, actually. I just got dropped off TV, and then the next thing was like, ‘Oh, four months later you’re going to Evolve.’ And I kinda knew the writing was on the wall then. I asked if there was anything that I could’ve worked on. Is it my work, my promos? What is it? They said, ‘No, everything’s cool.’ Which is a lie, you know. Obviously, they took me off TV for a reason. So frustrating, but I took the jump to Evolve as another opportunity to kinda rebrand myself, trying to take the positive out of a negative.“

Last year, in September 2025, Holland, aka Luke Menzies, made his TNA debut against Mike Santana. While he believes he had a good match with Santana and it showed him a “shimmer of hope,” things again fell apart when he injured himself during his bout against Moose.

Walking through the exact moment of the injury, Holland shared, “I was, uh, gonna give Moose a pop-up powerbomb, and because he’s so athletic and you know, he jumped so high, I thought I was gonna lose him. So I stepped forward, and he came down. I took a step back, and the foot that stepped back just twisted in my boot. Yeah. And that’s what caused the injury there. And obviously, I couldn’t really put weight on my foot, and I thought for his safety and my safety, I’ve been in that situation before, I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. I couldn’t continue. And then, went to the back, got seen by some medical personnel. And then it was just basically fly home, WWE paid for imaging, found out the extent of the injury, and then, you know, obviously went through surgery.“

However, the 37-year-old believes WWE releasing him while injured was “bad company practice.” Reflecting on the situation, he said, “ I think it was just the fact that the situation was pretty murky. It could’ve been anyone who went through that situation. I think there’d have been a bit of an outcry, but, you know, as I said, I wasn’t able to wrestle and earn a living for seven months, and to be unemployed at that point. Couldn’t really walk, put weight on my foot, or anything. So it’s not as if I could go out and get a regular job. So yeah, it was a pretty poor situation. I thought it was bad business practice. I just don’t think that you do that to human beings. But unfortunately it’s, it’s corporate America, right? Things happen.”

Now gearing up for his indie comeback dates and a run in the UK’s National Wrestling League, Holland is looking forward to reinventing himself and not targeting any specific promotion, be it AEW or other companies.

“So at the minute, my biggest thing is to totally reinvent myself, just work anywhere and everywhere, and not have my heart set on working for a particular company. It’s more or less starting from the ground up, just starting from scratch and creating a little bit of a buzz and just showing people, you know, what I can do. So yeah, it’s just a matter of picking up as many bookings as I can, and obviously trying to give back as well, trying to help in any way.“

Holland believes he has now acquired knowledge that he believes will be valuable to elevate other wrestlers and himself. “I’ve learned some lessons, and I’ve learned some things. I’ve got a certain amount of knowledge that will be valuable to some other people. So if I can elevate myself, but elevate other people at the same time, that’s the goal.”

Lawyers for ‘prolific texter’ Vince McMahon defend use of Signal, alleged missing messages

Posted on by Josh Nason

Even though Vince McMahon didn’t understand “What in the blue hell is ‘Langis’ lol,” his legal team defended his use of the Signal app and other messaging platforms as part of the ongoing WWE shareholders lawsuit.

The communication platform is best known for the ability to not retain a record of messages, hence the difficulty in providing information in lawsuits such as the aforementioned one where a group of shareholders feel McMahon’s decision to enter into an agreement with Endeavor to merge UFC with TKO was pre-determined and thus cost them money.

The plaintiffs filed a motion in April where they claimed “adverse inferences against Defendants related to Defendants’ spoliation of relevant Signal messages and other evidence.”

As noted in a Bloomberg Law article Wednesday, McMahon’s lawyers said there is no gap in traceable communication to be concerned with and that McMahon is “a prolific texter” with 22,000 messages from multiple platforms having already been provided.

From the article:

“McMahon’s attorneys preserved data from his personal devices, even after they were seized by federal authorities investigating sexual misconduct allegations against him, she said. But Signal data sought by the investors wasn’t available for retrieval until after those devices were returned in October 2025.

The investors argue messages apparently missing from chats on Signal, an encrypted platform that can be set to have content disappear, could’ve been relevant to the litigation.“

Eric Leon of Latham & Watkins LLP, representing WWE who is also named in the lawsuit, stated, “These parties negotiated this deal really the old fashioned way. They did it with dinners and lunches, and they did it over the phone, and we produced all of the phone records.”

The judge has yet to rule on the motion.

The aforementioned “Langis” reference is to a message McMahon sent to WWE president Nick Khan in February 2023 after Khan wrote “Langis” in reply to McMahon about wanting to have a talk about creative. That exchange took place after Khan said McMahon was no longer involved in creative.

Former Ridge Holland compares working environments under Triple H and Vince McMahon | Exclusive

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

The former Ridge Holland has now broken down how different it was working under both Triple H and Vince McMahon.

Rising from a small town in West Yorkshire near Leeds, Ridge Holland, aka Luke Menzies, was a rugby player before becoming a professional wrestler. Training in the UK and the European indie circuit, Menzies built himself a strong portfolio before flying out to the USA for WWE NXT.

Speaking to F4Wonline in an exclusive interview, Holland opened up about his time in NXT and the WWE main roster. Holland joined NXT in 2020 while it was still under Triple H’s leadership and in the Black & Gold era.

“Yeah, I mean, it was always about opportunity, giving people opportunities. You know, you might have had to wait a little bit, but my personal experience was that everything was great. He had from what it seems and what I heard, he had big plans for me. Everything was going swimmingly, obviously, until I got, I got injured, which seems to be a kind of like a bit of a running theme in my career up until late. But yeah, you know, nothing but good experiences really. You know, obviously coming in and not experiencing that type of environment before and having someone who was firmly behind you was, you know, it was a massive boost in confidence,” Holland said.

However, shortly after, he was put on the main roster where he experienced a completely different environment under Vince McMahon. “So at that point, it was just Vince [McMahon] because Triple H had had his health scare.  All my dealings on the main roster were basically with Vince, Bruce [Prichard], and John Laurinaitis. So yeah, that was an experience [laughs].

“Just as what you’ve probably heard from anyone else. Very intense. Obviously, he’s a crazy billionaire, you know. It’s intense. Being there and just watching him operate. I had a couple of interactions with him. And from what I can remember, that for the Brawling Brutes at least, he had some big plans, but, you know, and they kind of never really came to fruition, and I’m sure it’s just something that, you know, it happens. Yeah, nothing truly negative. But yeah, he was there, and it’s kind of like, ‘Oh, look, there’s Vince. There he is walking past’ and stuff, so. He’s got a bit of aura.'”

Many pro-wrestlers have communicated the same before and described how competitive and pressurised the situation was working under McMahon. When asked to compare the two working environments under McMahon and Triple H, Holland said that while one was like walking on eggshells, the other was much more relaxed.

“I  think the main thing was that around Vince and around that kind of the systems he had in place, there was a lot of kind of like people walking on eggshells. Just from how he liked everyone to be pretty high-strung in a really competitive environment. But when Triple H took over, it was more like just relax, and you could kind of more or less just take a deep breath and be yourself. And I think everyone felt a little bit more comfortable, if that’s the right term. Just a little bit more comfortable.”

Holland’s jump to the main roster saw him get paired with Sheamus and Butch (Pete Dunne) as part of The Brawling Brutes. While he enjoyed his time with the duo, Holland believes WWE never pulled the trigger on them.

“It was good fun.  I think we had a lot more legs than what we were to achieve. I think we had a lot more in us. But it was fun, you know, traveling down the road, and obviously, Sheamus is, you know, Hall of Fame career, you know, certified Hall of Famer. And just to get in there and obviously be reintroduced back with Pete [Dunne], it was great. We managed to get ourselves organically over as babyfaces, and with that, Sheamus had one of his most babyface runs. But yeah, it just felt like they never really pulled the trigger. I mean, we wrestled a couple of times for the tag team belts. You know, we were in the War Games, the inaugural War Games on the main roster. Yeah. And then we had a really good kind of like Donnybrook match with Imperium. But yeah, it was fun. Although I think there was a lot more that we could have done. But I was grateful for the opportunity,” Holland said.

Despite feeling he could’ve done more with The Brawling Brutes, Holland expressed his gratitude for whatever plans WWE placed him in. Recalling being a part of the first main-roster WarGames match, he shared, “Yeah, just again, a big opportunity. I never realized that we’d be involved in that. But it was a funny situation because we didn’t really have the match down until like 20 minutes before bell time. Nerve-wracking. But we all the beats and made sure that The Bloodline and all of their story. That was the main point, the story of The Bloodline. You know, it was the main point of getting that out, you know, getting that across, and we managed to do it. I would’ve liked to have a bit of a bigger part in it and done some more things, but you know, you’ve just gotta play your part. You know, and play the role that you can. But I’m grateful for the opportunity, and I can say at least I was involved in that match.“

Luke Menzies, fka Ridge Holland, recalls his memories working with Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, and Sheamus

Roman Reigns is regarded as one of the biggest names on the WWE roster. With an extremely successful portfolio, Reigns is often seen at the pinnacle of the company. When asked about his experience working with Reigns, Holland said, “We’ve been in a couple of six-man tags, and then obviously the War Games match. But he’s a huge star. He’s super cool behind the scenes. He just does his thing, you know? He is the marquee. His face is on the, you know, everything. So he carries himself like a star. He is a star. He performs like a star. He’s the man. Every encounter that I had with Roman Reigns, although fleeting, they were all positive. He was a cool guy.“

The West Yorkshire native also had positive words to say about his fellow Irish and British Isles wrestlers, Sheamus and McIntyre. When asked what advice they gave him, Holland said, “Just basically, just to be physical, be aggressive. Obviously, those two guys are, you know, that’s their forte. So a lot of people pull from their own experiences in trying to give advice from the things that they’ve encountered. So, just be aggressive, bring it in the ring, and bring that mindset, which is what those guys did. Yeah, good times. More memories of, like, being on the road and being in the car with Drew and Sheamus, ’cause they are like a married old couple. You know, they’ve been friends forever, so hear them bickering and stuff. We used to call Drew ‘Sleepy’ ’cause he was always in the car sleeping, and Sheamus would be more or less be the wheel man. So we had some good times.”

A former rugby player, Holland experienced a run in the European indie wrestling circuit, which he believes has given rise to several top wrestlers in the world right now.

“Yeah, I mean, when you look, you look at the, the kind of like the plethora of talent that we’ve had from the British independent scene, right? You don’t have to look as far as NXT UK. The inaugural version of that, where you had like your Pete Dunnes, your Tyler Bates, your Trent Sevens, you know, your Jordan Devlins, even your Rampage Browns. I’m probably missing a ton of names out here, you know,” Holland said.
“And then you go across obviously, like the European side, where you have Ilja [Dragunov], you know, Imperium, Walter. And then obviously I’ve never really had much dealings with Will Ospreay, but he’s obviously a fantastic talent and, yeah, I think that it showed that there was a pathway for young budding wrestlers, passionate young wrestlers, that there was an actual avenue to get to where they wanted to be, which was obviously WWE. And now we’ve got even more options there with the AEW, TNA, MLW now and stuff, and so yeah, it showed people that there was an actual pathway.”

In his career, filled with ups and downs, the road was not always easy for Holland. From training under Marty Jones to getting his US visa rejected and then wrestling in the indies, Holland has made a name for himself. Now cleared to wrestle after his injury, Holland is gearing up for his comeback in the UK’s National Wrestling League.

Jimmy Wang Yang recalls Vince McMahon meeting after he forgot he was fired from WWE

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Jimmy Wang Yang revealed his meeting with Vince McMahon after he forgot he had been fired from WWE. And how that led to his second stint with the company. 

On the latest episode of the Insight Podcast, Yang revisited the time he was trying to get WWE tickets for himself and his date. He ended up meeting McMahon who seemed to forget that he had been fired. 

“Steve Rubin used to hook us up with tickets and I take this girl out wanting a diner, all this kind of stuff. So I go down there, I get to the building, I go down I’m standing around greeting everybody and all of a sudden Vince is walking down toward me. I’m like ‘Hey, Vince’, he’s like ‘Jimmy, where the hell you been?’ You know, I was like, you fired me. ‘What? I did.Oh, we got to talk about it. I don’t want to talk to you in a minute. Just stay here. I got to go do this. I’ll be back.’ He didn’t know he fired me.”

Later, WWE approached him and got him involved in DX’s segment with Spirit Squad. He appeared on the following Raw and SmackDown. John Laurinaitis pulled him aside backstage and informed him that WWE was rehiring him. 

Yang’s second WWE stint extended from 2006 to 2010. Following which he extensively competed on TNA before a third comeback as a WWE producer and released again shortly after. 

Ronda Rousey reflects on WWE chaos during Vince McMahon’s regime

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Ronda Rousey discussed the chaos during her WWE run under Vince McMahon’s regime. 

In an interview with Complex News, Rousey revisited her WWE career, stating that she felt she was portraying an impression of herself rather than being authentic. 

“I felt like I was doing somebody else’s impression of myself. You can tell when I was allowed to write my own promos and when I wasn’t. I learned a lot from it and I really enjoyed my time in the ring. I didn’t really enjoy being under the death throes of Vince McMahon’s reign, but there were a lot of great experiences in there.” 

Rousey also talked about working extensively while Vince McMahon was in leadership. She expressed last minute changes were frustrating to work with after much planning for matches and events. 

“I mean the second run, Vince was just more far gone and more difficult to work with and there was a lot of inner turmoil going on in the company. It was kind of a sh*t show and nobody ever knew what was going on. And you would get to the arena and you would be made to do something that somebody threw in your lap that wasn’t, hadn’t thought about it until 15 minutes before. Everything was super last minute and not well thought out and there was no communication, no back and forth.”

Rousey stated the anxiety among the chaos and was rooting for Triple H to take over as the in charge.

“Any attempt to collaborate felt like we were trying to negotiate something as opposed to partnering together to make something great. And unfortunately I love being out there in the ring and doing it, but the process was just like cluster f*ck, sh*t show that it was so much more anxiety than it was worth. I just look back at it and I just remember the anxiety of not knowing what was going on and then at the last minute, maybe we’d be able to pull it out of our a** and have a good night and maybe not. I was definitely team Triple H to get up to take it over. Yeah. So, I’ve heard it’s been much better since he’s taken things over, but unfortunately I didn’t get to experience it.”

Rousey had two stints with WWE from within 2017 and 2023. She made an appearance at AEW Revolution to side with real-life friend and former WWE wrestler, Marina Shafir following her match against Toni Storm. 

Rousey is gearing up to fight Gina Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. It will stream live on Netflix.