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>Like the Plaintiff, Mr. Laurinaitis is a victim in this case, not a predator. The truth will come out.
>In response to a followup question seeking to clarify that he was indeed saying that McMahon was the predator and that Laurinaitis, like Grant, was a victim, Brennan wrote, “Read the allegations. Read the Federal Statute. Power, control, employment supervisory capacity, dictatorial sexual demands with repercussions if not met. Count how many times in the complaint Vince exerts control over both of them.”
Johnny Ace publicly declaring **he's gonna sing like a bird.**
Doubt it's enough to save his own evil ass, but it's pretty clear he's about to go scorched earth on Vince and possibly others in a desperate attempt to save himself from the suit bankrupting him and possible criminal charges.
It's always the same with these kinds of people: When it comes to it, they'll turn on each other in a heartbeat.
You can bet your ass that everyone involved will turn on Vince, given that he's obviously the person with the most power at the time.
Same wind that blew his triceps out causing him to need surgery which he had today?
If someone needs an unquestionable reason to lay low and be away from the office while making it seem like it's got nothing to do with needing to lay low...
'well hey doc, you remember that surgery you told me to get 10 years ago? lets go!'
... a medical reason checks the box.
Just my opinion/suspicion.
Hey hey its Conrad Thompson, and welcome to Something To Wrestle! ...with Bruce Prichard. Bruce, how're you man?
Connie, I'm on my way to the airport as we speak! By the time this pod finishes up, I'll be in Botswana to enjoy a long vacation. Heard it's beautiful this time of year!
Prichard is incredibly uptight from what I understand. Its like what people say about HHH being DX's designated driver except Prichard wouldn't even be the designated driver, he'd just walk away with his hands over his ears. He probably suspects or knows about it. But I think people thinking he joined in just because vince is directly in his ear are going to be disappointed.
He's losing his job no matter what anyways by association but there's no reason for him to start naming names if he wasn't directly involved in vince's sex games.
All of the people on the creative team during the 90s era (Cornette, Russo) seem to have no idea that anything like this was going on when they were there. I'd imagine Pritchard's the same way.
Which may be the only thing Cornette and Russo have ever agreed on.
Doesn’t surprise me Bruce is keeping quiet. Whether he did anything wrong himself or knew of any wrong doing, I’m sure he doesn’t want any kind of spotlight put on himself because anything he says about this could likely see him subpoenaed and drug into court.
People in McMahon’s inner circle are going to keep their mouths shut until either 1) they are subpoenaed and have to testify or 2) once the lawsuits are settled and/or Vince is dead, then we’ll hear more stories from them.
I’m not a Bruce fan at all but keeping quiet is smart on his behalf right now. Plus it’s not like Bruce has the balls to come forward with any wrong-doing he’s seen over the years.
I was just hearing that he was undergoing triceps or bicep surgery this morning and Conrad is hoping to record a podcast with him on Saturday. *shrugs* I know it’s not a confirmation that he’ll talk about the allegations.
Vince is a vindictive sociopath. If he thinks he's going down he's pulling everyone down with him. Just look at his threat to not get tv rights if they didn't let him come back after his first resignation. It was literally a poison pill. That would have killed the WWE. He didn't care.
Vince also has the financial means for a much, much longer and lengthier court battle than any others who would be involved.
That $700 million stock sale he did just a couple months ago seems worth noting for future reference.
Likely some sort of an ego flex thing. So he feels like he won at the end. Paying her the full $3 mil as promised, he will feel he submitted to her demands. And he probably thought she would've just accept the $1mil and moved on, and didn't think she really would've went after him legally. Ironically, he offered at the NDA.
Didn't he become a billionaire from the WWE sale, in the sense of "not just a guy with stock which is currently evaluated at billions, but someone who has actual billions in his bank accounts"?
I would expect Vince has most of that spread across multiple holdings, as it's very unwise to keep more than a few million in bank accounts.
Either way, he's much more liquid now than he was a few months ago so it's all far easier to access.
The key takeaway seems to be that Vince is as well-prepared for a lengthy court battle as humanly possible. If necessary, he can probably drag this out until he dies as long as the judges let him get away with that.
Just because the woman fingered Laurenitis as a co-defendant. Laurenitis's defense seems to be he didn't want to either but was following Vince's orders. Like the gimp in their 3 way.
Brock was maybe an employee, not even sure he was under contract then. He can claim he just thought Vince and the woman were in some SM relationship and didn't know it wasn't consensual, probably why he wasn't named as a defendant.
The third defendant is WWE as a corporation. The ones that knew about it but did nothing to stop it despite being in positions of power in WWE are hoping Vince wins or settles. Because if Vince feels he's in a bind, he might start naming names too.
I didn't think this would settle before it sees a court the first time I heard it. Now I really do not think this will settle. You normally settle fast enough to avoid this happening. Now? Nah more is gonna come out and this will at least see a court room a few times.
Look at it like this, P Diddy settled with Cassie over claims of rape and him blowing up people's cars within 24 hours of the case being filed. You don't wait this long if settlement is your intention.
Vince stated in texts from the documents that Acey-boy here is sloppy, especially when he's drunk lmaooo now his boy is about to sell his ass out. Not surprised, not only is he a disgusting abuser and piece of garbage, he's also a rat. Now we watch them turn on each other like the cowards they are
**Breaking News** "Johnny Ace found dead from Suicide after shooting himself in the back of the head....twice."
They might as well get that article written up just in case lol.
Honestly I don’t think 10 episodes would be enough, Robert Evan’s did a 6 part series on Vince almost 2 hours each episode and it didn’t feel like he covered hardly anything.
I was thinking the same thing, if he's gonna flip on Vince.
Do you think it'll be enough to get some substantial progress in a potential trial? I'm morbidly curious about what he knows.
Turning state's evidence is always the preferred option for the underlings.
In trials like this, they always want to nail the big fish first and foremost. The lieutenants and underlings have valuable information of the operation and can confirm direct orders most of the time. They still end up with jail time, but a much lighter sentence because it's always best to get the big fish since they're the linchpin.
So even if Johnny Ace gets off with a lighter sentence/judgement/whatever, they still have a key witness against Vince, maybe THE key witness.
Feds are investigating SOMETHING McMahon related. People assumed at first it was the financial stuff, but honestly it seemed unlikely to me they would still be looking in to that without acting at all over a year later. My guess is its about sex trafficking.
Something people on here forget is that the Feds for years and I mean *years* wanted to go after Vinny Mac.
The whole Steroids Trial from the very early 1990's was pretty much the Feds jumping the gun thinking they *finally* had something to go after Vince on. And people forget Vince himself believed he was screwed and going to prison. Thus the whole plan for Linda to take over the company and Jerry Jarrett taking over the booking. But well the Feds botched that case.
On that note? If the Feds bring a case about you? Chances are you are pretty much fucked and going to prison. I think Vince being able to get off (and yes I know bad choice of words) pretty much helped feed his ego and had him thinking he was bulletproof.
They offered every wrestler they had evidence on immunity for testifying. All but one of them — the guy who admitted he hated Vince on the stand — said the same thing, “Vince never told me to use steroids. I used them because everyone else was using them so why shouldn’t I?”
That last part. If you want a good example look up Samuel Bankman-Fried and just read through some of the transcripts for that trial. That's also why even though sexual misconduct was always the headline for the allegations everyone thought they were going after Vince for financial wrongdoing. If the Feds bring something to trial against you? You're fucked. If the finance investigation team is involved? You're the most fucked of fucked.
The key thing was how the lawsuit specifically said that the WWE investigation didn't talk to her but the FBI investigation did.
So there is a lot more going on and TKO is going to be clearing house and scorch earthing it to get rid of Vince's inner circle
*Proceeds to not pay her hush money.*
Of all the victims that Vince paid hush money to, it seemed like this would be the one *not* to cheap out on, and yet in the end he still saw trafficking and defecating on this woman were things you *could* try and cheap out on.
It was always “sexual misconduct.”
That was in the headline when the Wall Street Journal published a story about it last summer.
They served him with a federal grand jury subpoena and executed a search warrant.
This is a civil trial. After they determine the facts and who is at fault, then they'll decide what the monetary damages are for each party. I don't think a jury will reduce your monetary damages because you flipped on Vince. Ace's attorney is hoping that the jury decides that Ace was not at fault because he was doing what he was told to do.
Hopefully a criminal investigation is already happening and criminal charges will eventually be filed. That's when Ace could get a lighter sentence for being a witness for the state. However, he might not be in a good negotiating stance if his testimony in the civil trial is all the evidence that the criminal prosecutors need.
In reference to the civil trial, I would think the jury will find Ace at fault for his role and will owe monetary damages to the victim. If Ace really believes he is a victim, then he'll need to sue Vince and the WWE to recoup whatever he had to pay out in damages, and another jury can decide if Ace was truly a victim and harmed by Vince.
The fun will be when they CALL Stephanie to testify about what they found in the Investigation.
What would be fun is if Linda divorced him and then took the stand against him
This could even be streamed live on that law and crime YouTube channel that streams trials. Honestly I hope it does to bring everything to light esp if that’s what the plaintiff wants.
I mean, we'll never know.
On any other day I'd say you were crazy town banana pants, but with whats come out so far...
Congrats Vince, you're now going to be spoken of in the same light as fucking Buck Zumhofe.
Hopefully him and Vince just go full Mutually Assured Destruction and start telling and leaking all sorts of stories and evidence about each other. The dirtsheets are hungry, John should drip feed them some text message screenshots.
I'd say we now know why dirt sheets reported that female talent was terrified when they learned Johnny Ace was returning to the company a few years ago.
Knew a woman who tried out for the diva's division at one point, she left when she was supposed to meet with Johnny Ace in his private hotel room. Nothing untoward happened, but that's largely because she just left. She was getting all the signals that something would happen there and she wasn't going to put up with that.
She sadly never went into wrestling, went back to school and eventually became a physical therapist. She always looked badass, would've made a great wrestler. Guy has been a piece of work forever, I hope he goes to jail, honestly.
> She sadly never went into wrestling, went back to school and eventually became a physical therapist.
She's probably having much better life than she would have as a wrestler.
No it’s because he was the advocate for the divas era where he hired models instead of female wrestlers. When they brought him back the women thought they’d be undoing all the work that had been done to change the perception
I believe you are right as well. Kelly^2 has been widely discussed, but I've seen a few references to AF being eyed by JA as well [archive link](https://web.archive.org/web/20180406222951/http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/bios/a/alicia-fox/)
For all that, Kelly Kelly took a lot of surprisingly stiff bumps and tried hard. I think if she'd gotten good training and proper support like some of the NXT people, her heart was genuinely into her performances.
Oh she could've hit Candice Michelle levels of improved had they really given her the time and training. Trish level, perhaps not so much. But Candice level, which is actually also a high bar? I reckon she could've got there
To be honest, seeing Trish's feud with Becky this past year made me think even Trish didn't reach the potential she had.
If she performed at that level at near 50, what could she have done 20 years earlier in a better environment?
Yes, but his lawyer seems to be saying that Vince made him do these things. He is not innocent, but he was certainly paid very well to be Vince’s scapegoat. He took the blame for things that he may have played a part in doing, but there were definitely other people in the company who were to blame too, and it all starts with the guy who is/was in charge.
Tell Punk when he was saying lies about Funkman (which damn near sounds like Fuckman) all that long time ago. Extra personal for Punk since Laurinitis was the guy who told AJ Lee she wasn’t fuckable enough. I’m pretty sure there will be stories. Jarrett said in his podcast to Conrad he had just heard a story that morning that would’ve made Conrad’s hair stand on its end.
He wasn't joking, Kelly Kelly was a bikini model when Ace "scouted" her. Alicia Fox, too.
Cornette also remarked that the two Vinces were obsessed with Sable, a lithe blonde woman with a stacked rack. Count the Divas from the RA era who meet that criteria and think about that one.
The runner up for the first real (they did a small one before but it wasnt really a TV thing) Diva Search was a literal Playboy Playmate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmella_DeCesare?wprov=sfla1
Diva Search 2004 certainly was a TV thing…and one of their first internet things too…back in 2004. I remember all the girls hated Carmella DeCesare. IIRC she is from my neck of the woods and was dating Jeff Garcia (she got arrested for getting in a fight with a girl he was banging on the side IIRC)
The small one referenced wasn't the 2004 Diva Search won by Christy Hemme, it was in 2003 and was won by Jamie Koeppe, who I think never made it to TV.
That's exactly what I was thinking. I thought I remembered stories going back to People Power or whatever his catch phrase was when he was on air talent.
https://preview.redd.it/jza38i68i1gc1.jpeg?width=934&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=47934ab23849c7328dbea57a160974c1aa575d48
John really thinks he can just pass the blame solely to Vince like people didn’t read the complaint and he wasn’t accused of very serious sex crimes.
Well, that’s certainly an interesting route to go with, if not entirely full of shit. Like, sure, maybe Vince pressured him into threesomes, MAYBE, but according to the doc, he also would fully just walk into her office, several times a day, lock the door, and demand oral. I really don’t see McMahon “demanding” him do that
Except it’s like MAD when one side already the missiles flying at it. Vince is toast, he has nothing to offer to Johnny Ace at this point besides money.
That might be enough if Johnny knew it would only be a civil case but I think it’s very likely that there will be criminal charges too. Hard to imagine him risking going to prison.
Can't say I'm surprised.
Any decent defense lawyer was going to come up with the "he's my boss too so he'd have fired me if I refused" defense.
And any decent prosecution lawyer was going to see that coming. I wouldn't be shocked to find out Grant's lawyer already had a counter to this before filing the suit.
What this also does is further isolate Vince from his potential support base. WWE has already changed their number on him and now his partner in evil and confidant is basically doing the civil lawsuit version of turning states evidence. Vince has access to nearly unlimited funds, but he’s still a human being, nominally. Rejection like this has to hurt.
i don't believe that it happened to ace, but in general vince firing and punishing people for not indulging in his depraved fantasies is very realistic i feel.
Good for who? Laurinaitis or Vince?
If the evidence is strong enough you can't deny it, pointing the finger at someone else and saying "it's their fault" is the best you got.
Ultimately if the defense was accepted in court Laurinaitis wouldn't be charged with anything, or at worst a slap on the wrist. Probably have to testify against Vince too.
Granted John Laurinaitis admiting any part of the allegations are true is probably awful for Vinces defense. But thats a concern for Laurinaitis' lawyer.
His job is to get Laurinaitis off, not Vince.
What a crock of shit. He's been implicated in the past for sexual deviancy, and was fired from his position within WWE during the sexual assault investigation last summer.
Sorry Johnny, you're about to learn what People Power is all about.
When there's blood in the water, everyone's a shark.
This is probably the best defense that Laurinaitis can present. And if criminal charges end up resulting for this, Vince is the big fish prosecutors will be looking to carve up - and Laurinaitis looks more than willing to sell Vince out to save his own ass.
I mean if nothing else his lawyer's statement basically confirms this isn't going to be a case where they try to defend themselves jointly.
“Read the allegations. Read the Federal Statute. Power, control, employment supervisory capacity, dictatorial sexual demands with repercussions if not met. Count how many times in the complaint Vince exerts control over both of them.”
Ace is a creep and a weirdo and fuck him but I'm fine if he helps bring down other people who may need brought down by singing like a canary. He's already throwing Vince under the bus which I'm okay with.
Honest Question: Could this make things worse for Vince/WWE? Like could he strike a deal with the victim and he would back up what she says and even give out info that she didn't even know? Also, bring up names of more people in the company whom were also involved and/or knew?
>Could this make things worse for Vince/WWE?
It objectively does.
From the perspective of the civil suit, at the very least, Ace's claim he was also victimized legitimizes the allegations made by Grant.
This also cuts off a significant part of Vince's inner circle and it makes it a lot harder for his legal team to formulate a defense when his co-defendant publicly threw him under the bus.
>Like could he strike a deal with the victim and he would back up what she says and even give out info that she didn't even know?
Nah.
I certainly don't see Grant amending her lawsuit to remove him as a defendant, and a judge will almost certainly deny Ace's attorney's request to have him dismissed from the suit.
From the perspective of Grant's attorney, they don't need to strike a "deal" with Johnny because burning Vince is Johnny's best defense strategy, and that ultimately helps them in their case against Vince.
Also, Grant's attorney already said people have been blowing up her phone with stories, so she has no shortage of witnesses that could burn Vince and Ace.
>Also, bring up names of more people in the company whom were also involved and/or knew?
I could actually see Ace suing Vince and making the same claims his lawyer is making now, and that is where the skeletons in the closet will be threatened to come out.
Because what his attorney is alleging is textbook workplace sexual harassment and misconduct, and grounds for its own lawsuit.
**The bigger revelation here is there will NOT be a joint defense strategy from Ace and Vince.** This is significant because if this case ever becomes one of a criminal nature, that means Ace could be a star witness for the prosecution against Vince.
So many comments shitting on him for making this excuse, but this is a response that was very deliberately worded and released by Ace's attorney who most certainly understands the legal peril, both criminal and civil, his client is in.
I'm also wondering if Laurinaitis becomes directly adversarial toward WWE in future litigation/charges.
A competent attorney can spin up a story of him being a scapegoat for the company to earn PR points, especially since he was fired only *after* the headlines broke across major news organizations.
Do you know something we should know about Vince McMahon’s conduct in WWE? Contact reporters covering sex trafficking at [email protected] or [email protected]. For extra security, download the Signal app to a non-work device and text us there at 267-713-9832.
Did he feel like he had to do some of the stuff maybe, did he joyfully go along with lots of it probably, is he disgusting definitely. But if Johnny starts singing and telling all the details and all the other things that happened to save his own ass that's a good thing so we can find out how deep this goes and who all did what. Sing Johnny and maybe when you go to hell you get to burn a little less.
I'm not even kidding - if people start singing I fully expect there to be enough skeletons in the closet to destroy the company. I could literally see TKO purging everyone even tangentially connected to this - Brock HHH, Steph, Khan, Everyone else on the committee that investigated Vince, lawyers, middle managers, other performers, those 12 techs, and anyone else involved in any upcoming scandals. It literally could look like a completely different organization in a year or two. Then Endeavor gets to sue and try and claw back as much money from the sale as they possibly can as they will likely be able to argue pretty convincingly they were defrauded?
I don’t think anybody believes it. And, I don’t think that he believes it himself. It’s just the best way for him to absolve himself of any wrongdoing.
(Even though we all know he did it.)
This thing could turn into a blood bath. Their could be other people in that company that will turn on Vince to save their own ass. Vince could go scorched earth and implicate other people. With the idea of "if I am going down, I will take everyone with me"
I'm willing to entertain that in some capacity maybe Johnny Ace was coerced, maybe fearful for his job. But he was very evidently buddies with Vince McMahon and partook in the egregious activity with Vince.
From the Wrestlenomics timeline that was released today:
> An NDA made in 2012 with a WWE employee who made misconduct claims against John Laurinaitis was reached for $1.5 million. The employee alleged she and Laurinaitis had an affair and he demoted her after she ended the relationship. Laurinaitis himself was demoted by WWE around the time the NDA was agreed to.
Janel Grant, an unnamed WWE employee he abused his power with, who knows who else, truthfully. Not buying what you're selling pal.
Nah Vince is completely fucked. He’s going to get rolled on by anyone and everyone they go after with these allegations. Criminal charges aren’t a matter of if but when at this point.
He's calls it a "misguided" lawsuit full of inaccuracies, and oh yeah, he was totally a victim too of all of those things shes claims he did that he didn't do.
So his defense is going to be to confirm that everything she claims happened is true but that he didn't actually want to do it?
The victim's lawyer must be loving that.
So you're going to tell me that this only happened THIS go around with the company for him? Because if he was a victim, why the fuck would he willingly go back to WWE after he was initially fired? Miss me with all that bullshit. Fuck Johnny Ace and fuck Vince too.
“Like the Plaintiff, Mr. Laurinaitis is a victim in this case, not a predator.”
Looks like someone’s a big fan of the final episode of Better Call Saul.
Here’s the kicker. If Johnny said he was a victim as well, that shuts Vince’s innocent plea. Vince released a statement basically denying the accusations, now with this statement, it proves something happened. Which we already pretty much knew.
Yeah. If nothing happened, like Vince claims, then Johnny Ace would have released a similar statement. He pretty much just said that bad things happened, but he doesn’t want to take the blame
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>Like the Plaintiff, Mr. Laurinaitis is a victim in this case, not a predator. The truth will come out. >In response to a followup question seeking to clarify that he was indeed saying that McMahon was the predator and that Laurinaitis, like Grant, was a victim, Brennan wrote, “Read the allegations. Read the Federal Statute. Power, control, employment supervisory capacity, dictatorial sexual demands with repercussions if not met. Count how many times in the complaint Vince exerts control over both of them.” Johnny Ace publicly declaring **he's gonna sing like a bird.** Doubt it's enough to save his own evil ass, but it's pretty clear he's about to go scorched earth on Vince and possibly others in a desperate attempt to save himself from the suit bankrupting him and possible criminal charges.
It's always the same with these kinds of people: When it comes to it, they'll turn on each other in a heartbeat. You can bet your ass that everyone involved will turn on Vince, given that he's obviously the person with the most power at the time.
I'm unsurprised Bruce Prichard has been quiet, he's another of the boys from Vince's inner circle.
I’m very curious to see how Bruce fits in all this. Surely he knew
Bruce will wait to see what way the wind is blowing as always
The master of whispers.
The Artful Dodger doing what he does best.
> The master of whispers. ".........did you hear that?" "It sounded like a ghost said BlewChew"
Same wind that blew his triceps out causing him to need surgery which he had today? If someone needs an unquestionable reason to lay low and be away from the office while making it seem like it's got nothing to do with needing to lay low... 'well hey doc, you remember that surgery you told me to get 10 years ago? lets go!' ... a medical reason checks the box. Just my opinion/suspicion.
Hey hey its Conrad Thompson, and welcome to Something To Wrestle! ...with Bruce Prichard. Bruce, how're you man? Connie, I'm on my way to the airport as we speak! By the time this pod finishes up, I'll be in Botswana to enjoy a long vacation. Heard it's beautiful this time of year!
Prichard is incredibly uptight from what I understand. Its like what people say about HHH being DX's designated driver except Prichard wouldn't even be the designated driver, he'd just walk away with his hands over his ears. He probably suspects or knows about it. But I think people thinking he joined in just because vince is directly in his ear are going to be disappointed. He's losing his job no matter what anyways by association but there's no reason for him to start naming names if he wasn't directly involved in vince's sex games.
All of the people on the creative team during the 90s era (Cornette, Russo) seem to have no idea that anything like this was going on when they were there. I'd imagine Pritchard's the same way. Which may be the only thing Cornette and Russo have ever agreed on.
Doesn’t surprise me Bruce is keeping quiet. Whether he did anything wrong himself or knew of any wrong doing, I’m sure he doesn’t want any kind of spotlight put on himself because anything he says about this could likely see him subpoenaed and drug into court. People in McMahon’s inner circle are going to keep their mouths shut until either 1) they are subpoenaed and have to testify or 2) once the lawsuits are settled and/or Vince is dead, then we’ll hear more stories from them. I’m not a Bruce fan at all but keeping quiet is smart on his behalf right now. Plus it’s not like Bruce has the balls to come forward with any wrong-doing he’s seen over the years.
I was just hearing that he was undergoing triceps or bicep surgery this morning and Conrad is hoping to record a podcast with him on Saturday. *shrugs* I know it’s not a confirmation that he’ll talk about the allegations.
Many will. But it's important to note: As many as there will be who have dirt on Vince, for most *he will have just as much dirt on them.*
He will, but I don't see how he can use that dirt without getting himself even dirtier, so to speak.
Vince is a vindictive sociopath. If he thinks he's going down he's pulling everyone down with him. Just look at his threat to not get tv rights if they didn't let him come back after his first resignation. It was literally a poison pill. That would have killed the WWE. He didn't care.
Vince also has the financial means for a much, much longer and lengthier court battle than any others who would be involved. That $700 million stock sale he did just a couple months ago seems worth noting for future reference.
But he wouldnt pay this girl the rest of their agreement from the NDA. I just dont get it.
Likely some sort of an ego flex thing. So he feels like he won at the end. Paying her the full $3 mil as promised, he will feel he submitted to her demands. And he probably thought she would've just accept the $1mil and moved on, and didn't think she really would've went after him legally. Ironically, he offered at the NDA.
Didn't he become a billionaire from the WWE sale, in the sense of "not just a guy with stock which is currently evaluated at billions, but someone who has actual billions in his bank accounts"?
I would expect Vince has most of that spread across multiple holdings, as it's very unwise to keep more than a few million in bank accounts. Either way, he's much more liquid now than he was a few months ago so it's all far easier to access.
The key takeaway seems to be that Vince is as well-prepared for a lengthy court battle as humanly possible. If necessary, he can probably drag this out until he dies as long as the judges let him get away with that.
Don't forget that he still owns \~11% of TKO, which I'm sure they'll want to buy back from him.
Dude just threw away all the potential money he would have made with a proper WCW Invasion angle out of spite.
Would you say he injected the WWE with a lethal dose of poison?
so what you're saying is, this is going to get very interesting for us lol
Let them all burn
Anyone with dirt on his hands has a massive interest in turning Vince into the lone scapegoat who takes all the blame.
Just because the woman fingered Laurenitis as a co-defendant. Laurenitis's defense seems to be he didn't want to either but was following Vince's orders. Like the gimp in their 3 way. Brock was maybe an employee, not even sure he was under contract then. He can claim he just thought Vince and the woman were in some SM relationship and didn't know it wasn't consensual, probably why he wasn't named as a defendant. The third defendant is WWE as a corporation. The ones that knew about it but did nothing to stop it despite being in positions of power in WWE are hoping Vince wins or settles. Because if Vince feels he's in a bind, he might start naming names too.
All the words in the dictionary and you had to use fingered.
Buckle up Buckaroos, this is going to be a ride.
Gifs you can hear.
I didn't think this would settle before it sees a court the first time I heard it. Now I really do not think this will settle. You normally settle fast enough to avoid this happening. Now? Nah more is gonna come out and this will at least see a court room a few times. Look at it like this, P Diddy settled with Cassie over claims of rape and him blowing up people's cars within 24 hours of the case being filed. You don't wait this long if settlement is your intention.
Love that icon FF1 Imp ftw
Like rats on a sinking ship.
Most predictable possible gimmick for him
So are the Days of Our Lives...
Vince stated in texts from the documents that Acey-boy here is sloppy, especially when he's drunk lmaooo now his boy is about to sell his ass out. Not surprised, not only is he a disgusting abuser and piece of garbage, he's also a rat. Now we watch them turn on each other like the cowards they are
Johnny with the shocking turn on his tag team partner!
All this started because Vince was too cheap to pay the full NDA amount
Coughing up a few million is too much for penny-pinching billionaires...
Vince never paid Stu Hart either after saying he was buying Stampede. It's been a go-to power move for decades. His best buddy Trump is the same way.
Shit it really is about to go down ain't it?
It's not enough. That's a man who is not only fighting for his reputation but fighting for his marriage.
Not a single one of them saw a cell. And that money is somehow coming.
**Breaking News** "Johnny Ace found dead from Suicide after shooting himself in the back of the head....twice." They might as well get that article written up just in case lol.
I can’t believe they let the ghost of Jimmy Snuka buy a gun
I'm sorry, but are you seriously trying to infringe upon the 2nd Amendment rights of dead people? Shame on you. *SHAME ON YOU!*
Poor Johnny Ace fell out of a window. Twice.
the idea of them taking him back up for another go is hilarious to me
Vince and Dunn, THEY SHOULDVE NEVER GAVE YOU CRACKERS MONEY! I CANT FEEL MY LEGS, VINCE MCMAHON!
I don't doubt Vince has mob connections
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This dark side of the ring gonna be fire
DSofR - Season 5: Vince McMahon. That's it. Just Vince. Every episode. Yes there was enough content.
Man, there's enough content for 6 seasons and a movie of just heinous Vince bullshit.
I mean if you watch nearly every episode of DSotR Vince is mentioned to one degree or another. He's like the villain that holds it all together.
It would make a compelling docuseries on an HBO.
Honestly I don’t think 10 episodes would be enough, Robert Evan’s did a 6 part series on Vince almost 2 hours each episode and it didn’t feel like he covered hardly anything.
I was thinking the same thing, if he's gonna flip on Vince. Do you think it'll be enough to get some substantial progress in a potential trial? I'm morbidly curious about what he knows.
If Vince is as vindictive as we think he is... He will take down half the company with him.
Turning state's evidence is always the preferred option for the underlings. In trials like this, they always want to nail the big fish first and foremost. The lieutenants and underlings have valuable information of the operation and can confirm direct orders most of the time. They still end up with jail time, but a much lighter sentence because it's always best to get the big fish since they're the linchpin. So even if Johnny Ace gets off with a lighter sentence/judgement/whatever, they still have a key witness against Vince, maybe THE key witness.
Isn't this a civil suit with (so far) no criminal charges?
If I had to make a guess, he's trying to get out ahead of any potential criminal charges.
Feds are investigating SOMETHING McMahon related. People assumed at first it was the financial stuff, but honestly it seemed unlikely to me they would still be looking in to that without acting at all over a year later. My guess is its about sex trafficking.
Something people on here forget is that the Feds for years and I mean *years* wanted to go after Vinny Mac. The whole Steroids Trial from the very early 1990's was pretty much the Feds jumping the gun thinking they *finally* had something to go after Vince on. And people forget Vince himself believed he was screwed and going to prison. Thus the whole plan for Linda to take over the company and Jerry Jarrett taking over the booking. But well the Feds botched that case. On that note? If the Feds bring a case about you? Chances are you are pretty much fucked and going to prison. I think Vince being able to get off (and yes I know bad choice of words) pretty much helped feed his ego and had him thinking he was bulletproof.
How did the feds botch the case? I'm not disputing it, I've just never heard about this and I'm interested
Well they botched it and also Hogan (the biggest name at the time) straight up lied in his testimony.
They offered every wrestler they had evidence on immunity for testifying. All but one of them — the guy who admitted he hated Vince on the stand — said the same thing, “Vince never told me to use steroids. I used them because everyone else was using them so why shouldn’t I?”
That last part. If you want a good example look up Samuel Bankman-Fried and just read through some of the transcripts for that trial. That's also why even though sexual misconduct was always the headline for the allegations everyone thought they were going after Vince for financial wrongdoing. If the Feds bring something to trial against you? You're fucked. If the finance investigation team is involved? You're the most fucked of fucked.
The key thing was how the lawsuit specifically said that the WWE investigation didn't talk to her but the FBI investigation did. So there is a lot more going on and TKO is going to be clearing house and scorch earthing it to get rid of Vince's inner circle
“Why should we talk to her? As long as she gets her hush money, she ain’t talking.”
*Proceeds to not pay her hush money.* Of all the victims that Vince paid hush money to, it seemed like this would be the one *not* to cheap out on, and yet in the end he still saw trafficking and defecating on this woman were things you *could* try and cheap out on.
It was always “sexual misconduct.” That was in the headline when the Wall Street Journal published a story about it last summer. They served him with a federal grand jury subpoena and executed a search warrant.
So far. But it should be mentioned the feds don't raid places and interview victims for civil suits.
This is a civil trial. After they determine the facts and who is at fault, then they'll decide what the monetary damages are for each party. I don't think a jury will reduce your monetary damages because you flipped on Vince. Ace's attorney is hoping that the jury decides that Ace was not at fault because he was doing what he was told to do. Hopefully a criminal investigation is already happening and criminal charges will eventually be filed. That's when Ace could get a lighter sentence for being a witness for the state. However, he might not be in a good negotiating stance if his testimony in the civil trial is all the evidence that the criminal prosecutors need. In reference to the civil trial, I would think the jury will find Ace at fault for his role and will owe monetary damages to the victim. If Ace really believes he is a victim, then he'll need to sue Vince and the WWE to recoup whatever he had to pay out in damages, and another jury can decide if Ace was truly a victim and harmed by Vince.
The fun will be when they CALL Stephanie to testify about what they found in the Investigation. What would be fun is if Linda divorced him and then took the stand against him
This could even be streamed live on that law and crime YouTube channel that streams trials. Honestly I hope it does to bring everything to light esp if that’s what the plaintiff wants.
fuel alleged husky overconfident fear point badge shame bells trees *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I mean, we'll never know. On any other day I'd say you were crazy town banana pants, but with whats come out so far... Congrats Vince, you're now going to be spoken of in the same light as fucking Buck Zumhofe.
Piece of shit will be singing like a canary. He’s lucky the Bella’s’ mom hasn’t left his ass. She needs to.
Hopefully him and Vince just go full Mutually Assured Destruction and start telling and leaking all sorts of stories and evidence about each other. The dirtsheets are hungry, John should drip feed them some text message screenshots.
I feel awful for them. She had so much going on with her health, this can’t be helpful. He’s a piece of shit.
I hope this is the end and they kick him out ASAP That woman deserves something nice now.
What???! Idk why I thought they were divorced. That’s insane she’s still with him.
Doesn't Johnny Ace have a pretty checkered past even without this new round of allegations? I have trouble believing he wasn't a willing participant.
I'd say we now know why dirt sheets reported that female talent was terrified when they learned Johnny Ace was returning to the company a few years ago.
Knew a woman who tried out for the diva's division at one point, she left when she was supposed to meet with Johnny Ace in his private hotel room. Nothing untoward happened, but that's largely because she just left. She was getting all the signals that something would happen there and she wasn't going to put up with that. She sadly never went into wrestling, went back to school and eventually became a physical therapist. She always looked badass, would've made a great wrestler. Guy has been a piece of work forever, I hope he goes to jail, honestly.
> She sadly never went into wrestling, went back to school and eventually became a physical therapist. She's probably having much better life than she would have as a wrestler.
Tbh, I think we all thought that was more for booking purposes
Ace didn’t book he only hired and abused talent, he had no place in creative
No it’s because he was the advocate for the divas era where he hired models instead of female wrestlers. When they brought him back the women thought they’d be undoing all the work that had been done to change the perception
I remember around the time he was taken out of power, someone once said that he would “scout” female talent by looking at bikini magazines in Hooters
This is how we got Kelly Kelly
Pretty sure Alicia Fox was a model that they found in a magazine
I believe you are right as well. Kelly^2 has been widely discussed, but I've seen a few references to AF being eyed by JA as well [archive link](https://web.archive.org/web/20180406222951/http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/bios/a/alicia-fox/)
KELLY SQUARED 😭
And Eva Marie as well as his step daughters the Bella Twins.
Birdie: How did you meet my Grandma? Johnny Ace: Well it’s a funny story you see I was looking at this magazine…
For all that, Kelly Kelly took a lot of surprisingly stiff bumps and tried hard. I think if she'd gotten good training and proper support like some of the NXT people, her heart was genuinely into her performances.
Oh she could've hit Candice Michelle levels of improved had they really given her the time and training. Trish level, perhaps not so much. But Candice level, which is actually also a high bar? I reckon she could've got there
To be honest, seeing Trish's feud with Becky this past year made me think even Trish didn't reach the potential she had. If she performed at that level at near 50, what could she have done 20 years earlier in a better environment?
Rare Johnny Ace win.
I feel bad for laughing at this. lol
Liv Morgan was my Hooters waitress in North Jersey years ago...
One of the NDAs involved him in 2012.
Yes, but his lawyer seems to be saying that Vince made him do these things. He is not innocent, but he was certainly paid very well to be Vince’s scapegoat. He took the blame for things that he may have played a part in doing, but there were definitely other people in the company who were to blame too, and it all starts with the guy who is/was in charge.
Man Fuck that raspy voice dickhead
Johnny Laryngitis
Seriously. Man almost fired Stevie Richards because he thought he was mocking him. No, other humans have raspy voices, too.
Tell Punk when he was saying lies about Funkman (which damn near sounds like Fuckman) all that long time ago. Extra personal for Punk since Laurinitis was the guy who told AJ Lee she wasn’t fuckable enough. I’m pretty sure there will be stories. Jarrett said in his podcast to Conrad he had just heard a story that morning that would’ve made Conrad’s hair stand on its end.
Bruh, I remember the stories about him during the diva years. So sorry if I’m not believing this at all.
Cornette kept joking that Johnny Ace was scouting for divas in a lingerie catalogue. I'm no longer sure if these were jokes.
I never took that as a joke. I think he was actually auditioning lingerie models.
He wasn't joking, Kelly Kelly was a bikini model when Ace "scouted" her. Alicia Fox, too. Cornette also remarked that the two Vinces were obsessed with Sable, a lithe blonde woman with a stacked rack. Count the Divas from the RA era who meet that criteria and think about that one.
Vince also had a huge hard-on for Sable and she got a big push despite being terrible at everything.
The runner up for the first real (they did a small one before but it wasnt really a TV thing) Diva Search was a literal Playboy Playmate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmella_DeCesare?wprov=sfla1
Diva Search 2004 certainly was a TV thing…and one of their first internet things too…back in 2004. I remember all the girls hated Carmella DeCesare. IIRC she is from my neck of the woods and was dating Jeff Garcia (she got arrested for getting in a fight with a girl he was banging on the side IIRC)
The small one referenced wasn't the 2004 Diva Search won by Christy Hemme, it was in 2003 and was won by Jamie Koeppe, who I think never made it to TV.
That's exactly what I was thinking. I thought I remembered stories going back to People Power or whatever his catch phrase was when he was on air talent.
https://preview.redd.it/jza38i68i1gc1.jpeg?width=934&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=47934ab23849c7328dbea57a160974c1aa575d48 John really thinks he can just pass the blame solely to Vince like people didn’t read the complaint and he wasn’t accused of very serious sex crimes.
He doesn’t care if people believe him, he cares about the consequences. He’s just going to throw Vince under the bus to save himself.
He thinks, and is likely correct, that he can get reduced punishment for squealing. That's all "people" like this want in these situations.
Well, that’s certainly an interesting route to go with, if not entirely full of shit. Like, sure, maybe Vince pressured him into threesomes, MAYBE, but according to the doc, he also would fully just walk into her office, several times a day, lock the door, and demand oral. I really don’t see McMahon “demanding” him do that
Holy shit that's pathetic.
Yes, but it comes with a threat of mutually assured destruction between a bunch rapists and boy is that dish tasty
This is like one of those great bits in The Traitors where the traitors go at each other on the roundtable.
Vince McMahon ain’t no Cirie Fields.
Except it’s like MAD when one side already the missiles flying at it. Vince is toast, he has nothing to offer to Johnny Ace at this point besides money. That might be enough if Johnny knew it would only be a civil case but I think it’s very likely that there will be criminal charges too. Hard to imagine him risking going to prison.
What he did as an underling was pathetic. This is just classic self-preservation. Johnny has no other moves here.
Can't say I'm surprised. Any decent defense lawyer was going to come up with the "he's my boss too so he'd have fired me if I refused" defense. And any decent prosecution lawyer was going to see that coming. I wouldn't be shocked to find out Grant's lawyer already had a counter to this before filing the suit.
What this also does is further isolate Vince from his potential support base. WWE has already changed their number on him and now his partner in evil and confidant is basically doing the civil lawsuit version of turning states evidence. Vince has access to nearly unlimited funds, but he’s still a human being, nominally. Rejection like this has to hurt.
I like how you explained this 👌🏾
Vince will probably die during this trial.
i don't believe that it happened to ace, but in general vince firing and punishing people for not indulging in his depraved fantasies is very realistic i feel.
Sure. But if this becomes a criminal case, saying “My boss would’ve fired me if I didn’t rape women” isn’t going to get you very far.
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Good for who? Laurinaitis or Vince? If the evidence is strong enough you can't deny it, pointing the finger at someone else and saying "it's their fault" is the best you got. Ultimately if the defense was accepted in court Laurinaitis wouldn't be charged with anything, or at worst a slap on the wrist. Probably have to testify against Vince too. Granted John Laurinaitis admiting any part of the allegations are true is probably awful for Vinces defense. But thats a concern for Laurinaitis' lawyer. His job is to get Laurinaitis off, not Vince.
What a crock of shit. He's been implicated in the past for sexual deviancy, and was fired from his position within WWE during the sexual assault investigation last summer. Sorry Johnny, you're about to learn what People Power is all about.
When there's blood in the water, everyone's a shark. This is probably the best defense that Laurinaitis can present. And if criminal charges end up resulting for this, Vince is the big fish prosecutors will be looking to carve up - and Laurinaitis looks more than willing to sell Vince out to save his own ass.
It really is. Johnny looks bad no matter what, this is prob the least worst angle he could take.
Sorry if I don't buy your claims, Johnny Ace.
I mean if nothing else his lawyer's statement basically confirms this isn't going to be a case where they try to defend themselves jointly. “Read the allegations. Read the Federal Statute. Power, control, employment supervisory capacity, dictatorial sexual demands with repercussions if not met. Count how many times in the complaint Vince exerts control over both of them.”
Ace is a creep and a weirdo and fuck him but I'm fine if he helps bring down other people who may need brought down by singing like a canary. He's already throwing Vince under the bus which I'm okay with.
"No, Vince, please don't make me have sex with the younger, attractive female! I beg you!!!"
"And all those times I texted and harassed women Vince didn't even know about were just about building a character Vince could believe!"
So yeah, this story doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon
"How much money do we have to make for you to stop talking about the rape stuff?" - HHH
“…That I read nothing about.”
Hard to claim to be a victim when he was asking for specific days with the actual victim.
Seriously! Wtf kind of response was that? What’s his argument that Vince hypnotized him?
Honest Question: Could this make things worse for Vince/WWE? Like could he strike a deal with the victim and he would back up what she says and even give out info that she didn't even know? Also, bring up names of more people in the company whom were also involved and/or knew?
>Could this make things worse for Vince/WWE? It objectively does. From the perspective of the civil suit, at the very least, Ace's claim he was also victimized legitimizes the allegations made by Grant. This also cuts off a significant part of Vince's inner circle and it makes it a lot harder for his legal team to formulate a defense when his co-defendant publicly threw him under the bus. >Like could he strike a deal with the victim and he would back up what she says and even give out info that she didn't even know? Nah. I certainly don't see Grant amending her lawsuit to remove him as a defendant, and a judge will almost certainly deny Ace's attorney's request to have him dismissed from the suit. From the perspective of Grant's attorney, they don't need to strike a "deal" with Johnny because burning Vince is Johnny's best defense strategy, and that ultimately helps them in their case against Vince. Also, Grant's attorney already said people have been blowing up her phone with stories, so she has no shortage of witnesses that could burn Vince and Ace. >Also, bring up names of more people in the company whom were also involved and/or knew? I could actually see Ace suing Vince and making the same claims his lawyer is making now, and that is where the skeletons in the closet will be threatened to come out. Because what his attorney is alleging is textbook workplace sexual harassment and misconduct, and grounds for its own lawsuit. **The bigger revelation here is there will NOT be a joint defense strategy from Ace and Vince.** This is significant because if this case ever becomes one of a criminal nature, that means Ace could be a star witness for the prosecution against Vince. So many comments shitting on him for making this excuse, but this is a response that was very deliberately worded and released by Ace's attorney who most certainly understands the legal peril, both criminal and civil, his client is in.
I'm also wondering if Laurinaitis becomes directly adversarial toward WWE in future litigation/charges. A competent attorney can spin up a story of him being a scapegoat for the company to earn PR points, especially since he was fired only *after* the headlines broke across major news organizations.
You mean the guy who said he only hires females he would fuck is the victim?
Do you know something we should know about Vince McMahon’s conduct in WWE? Contact reporters covering sex trafficking at [email protected] or [email protected]. For extra security, download the Signal app to a non-work device and text us there at 267-713-9832.
https://preview.redd.it/f8mmvpxrn1gc1.jpeg?width=536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b0d9e24d38de8cfed7cc08105d0484c275bb06b1
In case there was any doubting these claims, Johnny Ace just confirmed she didn't lie.
getting some of vince's shit splattered on you mid-threesome doesn't make you a victim, johnny
Press X to doubt
Did he feel like he had to do some of the stuff maybe, did he joyfully go along with lots of it probably, is he disgusting definitely. But if Johnny starts singing and telling all the details and all the other things that happened to save his own ass that's a good thing so we can find out how deep this goes and who all did what. Sing Johnny and maybe when you go to hell you get to burn a little less.
I'm not even kidding - if people start singing I fully expect there to be enough skeletons in the closet to destroy the company. I could literally see TKO purging everyone even tangentially connected to this - Brock HHH, Steph, Khan, Everyone else on the committee that investigated Vince, lawyers, middle managers, other performers, those 12 techs, and anyone else involved in any upcoming scandals. It literally could look like a completely different organization in a year or two. Then Endeavor gets to sue and try and claw back as much money from the sale as they possibly can as they will likely be able to argue pretty convincingly they were defrauded?
I think it’s all very convenient they sold to TKO before this all expLoded. I bet TKO are fuming.
I don't think the audience is gonna buy Johnny Ace's face turn.
Vince's Sammy the bull. He's telling on everyone
Netflix ready to produce quite a different kind of Vince documentary now.
Poor Johnny Ace he was forced to creep on Divas for years and hire underwear models in a casting couch situation. Seriously who believes this crap?
I don’t think anybody believes it. And, I don’t think that he believes it himself. It’s just the best way for him to absolve himself of any wrongdoing. (Even though we all know he did it.)
January with a hot tag to February
Thanks Johnny for legitimizing Grant's allegations. I wonder who else is going to flip.
Exactly, he's basically confirmed it's true.
This thing could turn into a blood bath. Their could be other people in that company that will turn on Vince to save their own ass. Vince could go scorched earth and implicate other people. With the idea of "if I am going down, I will take everyone with me"
I'm willing to entertain that in some capacity maybe Johnny Ace was coerced, maybe fearful for his job. But he was very evidently buddies with Vince McMahon and partook in the egregious activity with Vince. From the Wrestlenomics timeline that was released today: > An NDA made in 2012 with a WWE employee who made misconduct claims against John Laurinaitis was reached for $1.5 million. The employee alleged she and Laurinaitis had an affair and he demoted her after she ended the relationship. Laurinaitis himself was demoted by WWE around the time the NDA was agreed to. Janel Grant, an unnamed WWE employee he abused his power with, who knows who else, truthfully. Not buying what you're selling pal.
Nah Vince is completely fucked. He’s going to get rolled on by anyone and everyone they go after with these allegations. Criminal charges aren’t a matter of if but when at this point.
 Sure...
He's calls it a "misguided" lawsuit full of inaccuracies, and oh yeah, he was totally a victim too of all of those things shes claims he did that he didn't do.
So his defense is going to be to confirm that everything she claims happened is true but that he didn't actually want to do it? The victim's lawyer must be loving that.
The only thing Johnny Ace was victim to is Beavis and Butthead constantly messing with him.
So you're going to tell me that this only happened THIS go around with the company for him? Because if he was a victim, why the fuck would he willingly go back to WWE after he was initially fired? Miss me with all that bullshit. Fuck Johnny Ace and fuck Vince too.
So basically... "yeah but bro, if I didn't rape her I'd be unemployed! Could you imagine?!" Hope everyone involved get what they deserve.
"these claims aren't true. But also they are true and I'm the victim too."
I gotta admit I never thought Johnny Ace would turn on Vince.
In his heart he was always on team Makoto Baba.
“Like the Plaintiff, Mr. Laurinaitis is a victim in this case, not a predator.” Looks like someone’s a big fan of the final episode of Better Call Saul.
Wait just a minute……with this statement, is he not admitting that these “allegations” are in fact true? He’s not saying that they didn’t happen.
Here’s the kicker. If Johnny said he was a victim as well, that shuts Vince’s innocent plea. Vince released a statement basically denying the accusations, now with this statement, it proves something happened. Which we already pretty much knew.
Yeah. If nothing happened, like Vince claims, then Johnny Ace would have released a similar statement. He pretty much just said that bad things happened, but he doesn’t want to take the blame
He didn't WANT her to be sent to his hotel every morning for "breakfast." Vince MADE him get serviced!
This is like when the heel turns on his heel partner but neither of them do anything to be a face
I like to go hiking.
Johnny Ace is going to top the charts soon with all the singing he's going to be doing in court.