In this WrestleTalk News, Vince McMahon pays out millions to alleged victim?!
WWE’s sale price revealed?!
The real reason for Cody Rhodes Rumble return being revealed REVEALED!
Subscribe and enable notifications to always on for daily wrestling news videos.
Ruh-roh spaghetti-ohs, Vince McMahon’s return to WWE has not exactly been controversy free
so far - firstly it being an immensely bad idea and secondly it being an IMMENSELY bad
idea.
Now we’ll add a third thing to that would be trifecta as the publication whose name
sends a shiver up any McMahon’s spine, the Wall Street Journal, have published yet another
report.
This time they are reporting that Vince McMahon has agreed to a multimillion dollar settlement
with former WWE referee Rita Chatterton who accused him of rape back in 1992, this comes
from people close to the agreement.
Chatterton’s allegations resurfaced in 2022 as a wave of sexual misconduct allegations
came crashing down on McMahon, which many speculate was the main motivator for his short-lived
retirement from the company.
McMahon’s lawyer had received a letter from Chatterton and her representatives back in
November 2022 which demanded $11.75 million dollars in damages for the alleged assault.
The WSJ articles claims that Chatterton ultimately settled for a figure below that $11 million
sum, but still in the multi-millions of dollars, though they could not determine the exact
amount.
Just check which account it came out of this time eh Vince.
McMahon’s lawyer Jerry McDevitt said “Mr. McMahon denies and always has denied raping
Ms. Chatterton.
And he settled the case solely to avoid the cost of litigation.”
According to the Journal this deal follows a $7.5 million settlement Mr. McMahon reached
in 2018 with a former wrestler who alleged that he coerced her into giving him oral sex,
as well as a 2022 agreement in which he agreed to pay $3 million to a former WWE employee
with whom he allegedly had an affair, though he has refused to comment on either of these
agreements.
Obviously this new quashing of a potential legal battle with a settlement also comes
as rumors suggest WWE is readying up to be sold, and Vince cited that his main motivator
for returning to the WWE after six months of absence was to help with their upcoming
media rights negotiations and look into other strategic alternatives, like a potential sale.
Now obviously I have personal opinions on all of this, but my lawyers have advised I
don’t say anything that might get us in trouble, so I’ll just go with oh it’s
all a mess isn’t it?
And what of that potential sale?
Who to?
How much?
Not them!
These are the questions and exclamations we’ve all been making since the new broke that Vince
was seriously considering selling the farm now he’s back.
Well we might have an answer to one of those as Dave Meltzer is reporting in the Wrestling
Observer Newsletter that WWE is looking to flog itself for a hefty chunk - rather than
flogging in sort of penance for certain sins.
Oh it’s all a mess isn’t it.
Dave suggested that WWE is hoping to sell for a figure somewhere “in the $8.5 billion
range.”
Noting that analysts believe Comcast is capable of agreeing to a deal more in the range of
“$7.4 billion to $8.2 billion.”
That’s way above the going price for a poisoned chalice.
Despite all the doom and gloom surrounding WWE lately, let’s not forget that the Royal
Rumble is just over a week away.
So get hyped everyone, we all love the Rumble right?
That is unless it’s bad…
like last year.
While we won’t know how good it’s going to all turn out, it does at least look on
paper to be one of the more exciting Rumble events in recent memory.
The Women’s Rumble match looks to be extremely wide-open and while the same can’t be said
for the mens match it’s perceived predictability doesn’t particularly hold it back this time.
Mainly because Cody is someone a lot of people actually want to win, unlike previously predictable
outcomes in 2022, 2016, 2015 etc.
While Cody was pretty much nailed on to make his triumphant return at the Rumble, it was
perhaps a bit unexpected that WWE made the decision to spoil one of their biggest ‘surprises’
ahead of time when they announced it on this week’s Raw.
Well, according to Wrestlevotes the decision to announce Cody prior to the match was due
in part to the fact that everyone already expected him to return, but also because WWE
are reportedly “more than pleased with the other surprises that are lined up."
Hmm… and who could these other surprises be exactly?
What’s that, WWE have dropped new ‘The Rock’ merch on WWEshop.com?
Well, I guess that answers that then.
The Rock Royal Rumble return confirmed!
That’s right, while The Rock’s status for the Rumble and WrestleMania has been long
speculated, the closer the event has gotten the more doubts have crept in.
Cody is still the odds on favorite to win after all, with Dwayne a joint second along
with Sami Zayn.
However, as mentioned before WWE have curiously dropped a pair of brand spanking new Rock
hoodies onto their online shop, while also uploading a video of The Rock and John Cena
agreeing to their WrestleMania 28 match from the April 4th, 2011 episode of Raw.
If WWE are indeed keeping their ‘biggest surprises’ for the Rumble then perhaps that
means that we won’t be seeing The Rock appear at Raw XXX for The Bloodline Acknowledgement
Ceremony after all?
Despite WWE claiming that ‘every generation’ of the Bloodline will be present.
I guess we’ll get one piece of our answer on Monday Night.
Speaking of major ex-WWE Hollywood stars teased for WrestleMania, how about 16-time World
Champion John Cena?
‘Big match’ John, along with Dwayne has seemed like a cert for a Mania appearance
of some fashion for a while now, and while The Rock only feasibly has one proposed opponent,
Cena seems to have a few potential opponents on the table.
Most obviously is of course Austin Theory, the heir-apparent to Cena in many ways.
Theory and Cena have done their fair share of teasing over the past year, and most interestingly
it was reported by Fightful Select that Cena and Theory in fact filmed a segment together
while Cena was in Tampa, Florida for the December 30th Smackdown.
While that seems to suggest that Cena & Theory have plans together, another man also has
a fair shot of standing toe-to-toe with Cena in Hollywood.
None other than Logan Paul.
Paul himself has rallied for a match with Cena at Mania, making a challenge on his ImPaulsive
Podcast back in November.
And now it looks like Cena may have cryptically responded to Paul via his always extremely
random Instagram page, with Cena uploading a photo of Logan and his brother Jake, in
which Logan is holding a WWE Championship belt.
Now, as mentioned, Cena’s Insta activity has always been a bit of a troll so perhaps
he’s simply averting fans expectations and/or teasing Logan.
However, maybe there’s more to this than that.
I guess once again we’ll have to wait and see.
Sasha Banks’ major splash as Mercedes Mone at WrestleKingdom 17 was (despite everything
else that’s happened in 2023), one of the most significant moments of the year and something
that had been building ever since both Banks and Naomi walked out of WWE in May 2022.
And while Mercedes has obviously made her WWE exit official, Naomi’s status is and
always has been a bit more of a mystery.
Well, according to a new report from Fightful Select, Naomi and WWE have “maintained positive
contact” throughout her absence, with one WWE ‘higher up’ telling Fightful that
they are “confident”, Naomi will make her return to the company.
However, when asked about a timeline for a return the WWE source could not provide a
definitive answer, especially when quizzed about a possible appearance for Naomi at the
impending Bloodline Acknowledgement Ceremony at Raw XXX.
Also according to the report both WWE and Naomi were “excited” about a contract
extension prior to Naomi’s exit last year, as her current deal was reportedly “close
to expiring” upon her walkout.
The report said the terms of her new deal were said to be “the biggest money of her
career”, however, it obviously remains to be seen whether the same offer will still
be on the table if she decides to come back to the company.
You know there’s all this talk of surprises for the men’s Rumble, how about a Naomi
Rumble return in the womens?
That would be nice eh?
While Naomi may be set to make a return to WWE, a WWE Hall of Famer has recently announced
their departure.
D’Von Dudley took to Twitter to announce that he had officially parted ways with the
company, thanking Vince McMahon, Triple H and Stephanie for his near seven-year stint
as a backstage agent and NXT coach.
D’Von’s departure comes just a month following a bit of controversy for the hardcore legend,
in which he was booked to appear at an ECW tribute show for Battleground Championship
Wrestling on December 17th 2022.
However, according to PWInsider D’Von would later be controversially pulled from the appearance
after WWE sent a legal letter to BCW, a decision in which D’Von attempted to get reversed;
however, instead he was given a firing warning from Triple H.
It’s unclear at this time whether the incident is related to his departure, however the timing
is admittedly a bit curious.
Lastly, today, following the tragic passing of Jay Briscoe in a car accident on Tuesday,
an update has been provided by friends of the Briscoe’s family on the health of his
two daughters who were also involved in the accident.
After initially being reported that both of Briscoe’s daughters Gracie and Jayleigh
were in critical condition following the incident, his wife Ashley stated that while both girls
have suffered serious injuries, both are currently “stable but have a very long road to recovery
ahead”.
We would just like to make everyone aware that there is a way to support the family
at this incredibly difficult time, via a givesendgo page which we will link below.
The page, which was set up by a friend of the family, has already raised over $170,000
already, has been approved by the family.
We at Wrestletalk would like to continue to offer our condolences to the Jay Briscoe’s
family and friends at this time and extend our sincerest well wishes to both Gracie and
Jayleigh in their continued recoveries.