The wrestling world was shaken in 2019 by the posthumous revelations of former WWE wrestler Ashley Massaro. In a sworn affidavit, she disclosed a harrowing experience of being injected with a paralyzing drug and raped by an individual claiming to be a U.S. Army doctor during a WWE tour in Kuwait back in 2006. What followed was not just a tale of personal trauma, but also allegations of corporate cover-up and complicity that have continued to haunt the WWE.
Massaro’s affidavit implicated top executives of the company, including Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis, alleging that they instructed her to remain silent about the incident. Their purported motive? To safeguard the company’s relationship with the military. McMahon, according to Massaro, urged her not to let one bad experience overshadow the company’s perceived good work.
Despite WWE’s denial of Massaro’s claims, subsequent developments have lent credence to her allegations. Paul London, a former WWE wrestler who was romantically involved with Massaro during their tenure with the company, echoed her sentiments. He claimed that Massaro herself was a victim of McMahon’s sexual misconduct, drawing parallels between WWE’s culture and the notorious NXVIM cult led by convicted sex trafficker Keith Raniere.
The recent filing of a civil lawsuit alleging rape against McMahon and Laurinaitis further intensifies the scrutiny on WWE’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations. McMahon has been accused of orchestrating a cover-up by coercing the victim into signing a non-disclosure agreement, a charge vehemently denied by both accused parties.
In response to questions regarding Massaro’s allegations, Laurinaitis’ lawyer Edward Brennan refuted any notion of a cover-up, asserting that WWE adhered to its protocols and ensured privacy for the alleged victim. Nevertheless, the controversy persists, casting a dark shadow over WWE’s reputation.
You can read the statement issued by Brennan below:
“Any allegations that Mr. Laurinaitus helped to cover up an alleged rape allegation is an outright lie. Johnny, like most upper level management at sometime became aware of the allegations and ensured all proper WWE protocols were followed, including privacy for the alleged victim. We object to the use of the term cover up as no such plan or plot ever took place to hide or assist in the alleged rape.”
This is in direct contradiction to the statement that WWE issued in 2019:
“WWE is saddened by the death of Ashley Massaro, and we reiterate our condolences to her family. However, we regret that her attorney Konstantine Kyros, who filed multiple cases against WWE, lost all of them, and was sanctioned multiple times by the Court for repeated misconduct and false allegations, is using Ashley’s death to further his malicious campaign against WWE by releasing an affidavit that she submitted to the Court and later apologized to WWE for being involved with, so we wish to make certain things crystal clear.
At no time was Vince McMahon or the management of WWE ever informed by Ashley Massaro or anybody else that she had been sexually assaulted, drugged, raped or sodomized by a military doctor with a nurse standing guard while on a goodwill tour in 2007 to U.S. military bases in Kuwait. In fact, if she ever articulated such a claim to WWE, we would have reported it immediately to the Base Commander.
At no time was there ever a meeting with Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn, John Laurinaitis or other company executives in which she told them of such a claim and was instructed to keep it quiet.”
As the wrestling community grapples with these unsettling revelations, WWE’s parent company, TKO, remains tight-lipped, declining to comment on the matter. McMahon’s abrupt resignation as chairman of TKO following the filing of the sex trafficking suit only adds fuel to the fire, leaving many questions unanswered.
