Below are a couple of top news stories of the day, featuring the McMahon family and Jerry Lawler.
• A fan named Leland Owens filed a second lawsuit against WWE, Vince McMahon, Linda McMahon, and Stephanie McMahon on September 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.
Owens claims WWE owes him unpaid wages and alleges Linda, whom he mistakenly believes served as a senator, tried to cover up an offer of $100,000. The lawsuit also claims Vince and Stephanie disguised themselves to steal his ideas, though no details are provided on what those ideas were.
In a previous lawsuit, Owens alleged a verbal agreement with WWE, claiming he gave them ideas but never got paid. He also said WWE attempted to send him “hush money” through Sasha Banks and Daniel Bryan. Owens asked for a cease-and-desist against WWE’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings.
WWE has not responded to these claims, and the defendants listed no longer work for WWE.
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• WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler’s lawsuit against Hardeman County, Tennessee, regarding the death of his son Brian Christopher Lawler, also known as Grandmaster Sexay, was dismissed on September 4, 2023. The lawsuit claimed that “numerous failures of the county and its employees” led to Brian’s death while in custody in 2018, seeking $3 million in damages and court-mandated changes to prevent future inmate suicides.
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee ruled that Lawler failed to present enough evidence to prove that county employees were aware of a suicide risk or acted negligently. The appellate court also reversed a previous decision to continue the case based on a 2021 precedent, ruling that an earlier standard should have applied due to the timing of Brian Lawler’s death.
Brian, arrested for DUI, was found hanging in his cell in July 2018. Lawler alleged the sheriff’s office failed to provide medical care after an assault and that correction officers ignored Brian before discovering him unresponsive. He also challenged the idea that his son’s death was a suicide, citing marks on Brian’s neck and inconsistent witness reports.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation concluded its investigation in April 2019, with no further action taken. Jerry Lawler had vowed to continue seeking answers, but the dismissal marks a significant end to the legal process.
