WWE co-founder Vince McMahon has been accused of sexual assault and trafficking in a lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant. The lawsuit is against McMahon, the company and a former WWE executive.

Grant revealed texts as evidence in the case, which allegedly show McMahon telling highly explicit stories in which he offered to sex traffic her to other WWE executives.

The texts are just one of many bombshell allegations being made by Grant, who also claims that McMahon defecated on her head during a threesome in 2020 and abused her, sometimes drawing blood or bruising her, with sex toys named after WWE wrestlers. There are also texts in which McMahon claimed ownership and control over Grant.

The lawsuit was filed in Connecticut on Thursday, seven months after the Wall Street Journal reported that WWE was investigating a $3 million payment McMahon allegedly made to silence a former female employee. Grant claims that she received one $1 million payment and nothing thereafter. McMahon’s payments later became a federal investigation when law enforcement issued a subpoena in August 2023. In all, further probing has revealed that McMahon paid nearly $15 million to various women between 2006 and 2022.

Though McMahon has largely been ousted as an on-air and creative presence in WWE, he remains an executive chairman for TKO Group Holdings, WWE’s parent company. TKO released a statement Thursday in response to the lawsuit.

“Mr. McMahon does not control TKO nor does he oversee the day-to-day operations of WWE,” the statement said. “While this matter pre-dates our TKO executive team’s tenure at the company, we take Ms. Grant’s horrific allegations very seriously and are addressing this matter internally.”

McMahon has not yet responded to the lawsuit directly but has repeatedly affirmed his innocence during earlier stages of the investigation into the matter. McMahon’s family, which still has significant influence in WWE, has not yet issued a statement. The Royal Rumble, an annual WWE pay-per-view event McMahon began in 1988, will air this weekend.

“Superstar” Billy Graham, one of the foremost professional wrestlers of the 1970s and 1980s, died Wednesday. He was 79.

Known primarily for his work with the McMahon family in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (later known as WWF and then WWE), Graham worked in professional wrestling on and off for more than four decades. Though he rose to prominence as the WWWF World Champion in the late 1970s, he also worked with rival promoters like the National Wrestling Alliance and American Wrestling Association.

As the WWWF’s main draw at his peak, Graham’s physique and personality inspired many of the archetypes seen in professional wrestling to this day. As a professional bodybuilder and friend of Arnold Schwarzenegger, he brought a larger-than-life element to professional wrestling, which up to that point had featured more workmanlike heroes in main events. Graham’s persona directly inspired that of Hulk Hogan, who elevated the WWF to even greater heights in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Behind the scenes, Graham had a number of professional and personal issues. He was deeply involved in WWF’s steroid scandal in the early 1990s and sued the company and doctor George Zahorian, accusing them of forcing him to take anabolic steroids. He did not win the case, as he began taking steroids before his career with the company began. At around the same time, he also claimed that he witnessed WWF officials sexually abuse children but later admitted that he made the accusations in an attempt to extort Vince McMahon. He later described this as a low point in life and apologized.

Despite his issues in the business in his later years, Graham eventually reconciled in part with WWE and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004. He made sporadic appearances on television for the rest of his life.

Because of steroid use and the physical toll of his work, Graham had many health problems later in life. Despite receiving a liver transplant in 2002, it continued to be an issue for the rest of his life and he later developed kidney, heart and respiratory problems as well. He reportedly died due to complications from cirrhosis and liver disease.

A legendary wrestler is making his return to the WWE in a different role. Paul Levesque, also known as Triple H will be the new head of the WWE creative following Vince McMahon‘s retirement from the chief position.

WWE released an official statement naming Levesque to the role: “WWE executive Paul Levesque will assume all responsibilities related to WWE’s creative, in addition to his regular duties.”

Stephanie McMahon, Vince’s daughter, and Nick Khan were named co-Chief Executive Officers. McMahon was also appointed as Chairwoman of the Board.

McMahon’s sudden retirement came amid numerous investigations and scandals into misconduct and alleged hush money payments within the WWE. In a statement, McMahon said, “As I approach 77 years old, I feel it’s time for me to retire as Chairman and CEO of WWE. Throughout the years, it’s been a privilege to help WWE bring you joy, inspire you, thrill you, surprise you, and always entertain you.”

He also touched on the impending investigation. “I have pledged my complete cooperation to the investigation by the special committee, and I will do everything possible to support the investigation. I have also pledged to accept the findings and outcome of the investigation, whatever they are,” he said.

As for Levesque, he will also continue to serve in his prior role as executive vice president of talent relations as well as running WWE’s creative content. He expressed his excitement, saying, “I look forward to returning to my prior position as head of talent relations. I’m healthy, fired up, and ready to take charge.”

While the WWE is marred with investigations regarding CEO Vince McMahon and dealing with the fallout of Sasha Banks and Naomi, there was a positive light shed on Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment as John Cena returned to Monday Night Raw to commemorate his 20th anniversary.

Cena, who debuted with WWE on June 27, 2002, was in the ring for a star-studded event that featured a number of big wrestling names. Names such as Rey and Dominik Mysterio, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Riddle and The Miz all partook in the festivities, competing in a Last Chance Battle Royal. After it all, McMahon introduced Cena to the ring to celebrate the star’s dominance during his 20-year run.

In a speech filled with emotion, Cena thanked the fans saying, “Today is my WWE birthday. Tonight has nothing to do with anything I had ever done. Tonight has everything to do with you. This 20th anniversary is so very important to me because it means you have allowed me to do this for two decades. You have been brave enough to tell me when I suck and you have also been kind enough to tell me when I don’t. I need to say thank you for making me who I am.”

This was one of the few times we’ve seen Cena in the ring, the last time being in 2021 when he competed at the WWE SuperSlam Premium Event but has since been busy in Hollywood, appearing in the newest Fast & Furious and Suicide Squad movies, as well as his newest show Peacemaker. Cena however is rumored to be competing at WWE Summer Slam 2022.

Retirement does seem on the horizon for Cena, however. Although he has taken a break from the silver screen to entertain the WWE masses, he said that he doesn’t know when he will step into the ring again. In his speech, he admitted that he does not know when fans will see him wrestle again due to his age, but he promised that he does have one more match left in him.

Cena left the stage with a bang, firing up the fans by saying, “We never give up, we’re just getting started, and if you want some, come get some.”

The WWE board has officially opened up an inquiry on Vince McMahon and an alleged financial settlement in exchange for a former employee’s silence. McMahon made a $3 million payment in a separation agreement with a former employee due to an alleged affair between McMahon and the employee.

According to reports, the agreement prevents the former staffer from disclosing any information about her relationship with McMahon or making any negative comments about him. McMahon had hired her as a paralegal starting with a $100,000 salary but then gave her a 100% raise after their relationship became sexual. The WWE’s investigation, which has been open since April, also uncovered many other concerning details regarding McMahon and WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis.

The investigation revealed years of nondisclosure agreements that relate to misconduct claims from former employees against both McMahon and Laurinaitis. According to emails, the employee who engaged in an alleged affair with McMahon was also involved with Laurinaitis, as McMahon gave the woman to him “like a toy.” Other NDAs involving other employees reportedly totaled millions of dollars in settlements.

McMahons’s attorney, Jerry McDevitt, said in a letter to the Wall Street Journal that the woman had not alleged any harassment by McMahon, and that WWE “did not pay any monies” to her “on her departure.” A WWE spokesman said that the company is fully cooperating with the investigation and that the relationship between the paralegal and McMahon was completely consensual.

McMahon bought WWE from his father in 1982 when it was named the World Wrestling Federation and helped build the company into a massive entertainment conglomerate. The company has produced stars such as Hulk Hogan, The Rock and John Cena. McMahon’s wife, Linda, formerly served as WWE CEO, while his daughter Stephanie, serves as WWE’s Chief Brand Officer. Although WWE is a publicly-traded company, McMahon still holds the majority of the shareholders’ voting power.

WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall—better known as Cuban villain Razor Ramon—died Monday.

A pivotal figure in the pro wrestling explosion of the ‘80s and ‘90s, the 63-year-old Hall was on life support in the hospital. The WWE did not list a cause of death but did refer to him as “a hugely influential superstar” in a statement.

Hall/Ramon was in the middle of a revolt in the mid-90s that saw him and other big-name talent leave Vince McMahon’s WWE (then WWF) in favor of WCW, which was a big deal. The WWE eventually took control of the WCW, owned by Ted Turner, but the move paved the way for wrestlers to become famous outside of the ring.

Kevin Nash left a touching tribute to his former tag-team partner.

“My life was enriched with his take on life,” Nash wrote on Instagram. “He wasn’t perfect but as he always said ‘The last perfect person to walk the planet they nailed to a cross.’”

Other wrestlers have added their tributes, too:

XFL tickets are on sale now! The XFL had its inaugural games on Fox and ABC on February 7 and received favorable ratings after 4.0 million viewers tuned in to see Vince McMahon’s second attempt at an alternate professional football league. The league is now entering Week 5 and the excitement of different rules and less commercials definitely caters to football fans who crave the sport in the spring. Don’t miss your chance to get a game before tickets sell out!

GET DEALS ON CHEAP XFL TICKETS HERE! 

Here’s the latest power rankings according to the XFL:

Here’s a list of dates, deals and cheap ticket information:

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The XFL had its inaugural games on Fox and ABC last Saturday and received favorable ratings after 4.0 million viewers tuned in to see Vince McMahon’s second attempt at an alternate professional football league. One question football fans have, however, is whether or not Colin Kaepernick will be signed to a team this season.

XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck told National Public Radio why the former 49ers’ quarterback wasn’t on a team in the league’s opening weekend.

“We gave it some thought,” Luck said to NPR, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “We have some pretty significant salary restrictions, you know. We’re a start-up league, so we want to make sure that we can be fiscally responsible and fiscally prudent. And the, you know, salary requirements that some folks, you know, shared with us were in our case exorbitant, so we, you know, couldn’t go down that path. We spoke with his representative, and the salary requirements that were broached in that conversation were exorbitant and certainly out of our range.”

Last year Kaepernick was reportedly seeking a $20 million salary to play in the now defunct Alliance of American Football, but never reached an agreement with a team. Still, Luck has his doubts about whether Kaepernick can still compete at a high level after being away from the game since 2016.

“I don’t know,” Luck said. “That was well over a year ago, so I don’t know what kind of shape, you know, Colin is in. And, you know, we haven’t followed that because obviously, again, we want the best players who are interested in playing in our league. That’s, you know, pretty much a requisite for our job.”

The 32-year-old quarterback had a controversial NFL workout in November that was initially supposed to be held at the Atlanta Falcons practice facility in front of 25 teams but Kaepernick ended up having his own workout an hour away from there. This was due in part to his representatives disagreement with the NFL’s stipulations which included that the media couldn’t record the workout, Kaepernick’s camp were not permitted to film and a waiver had to be filled out prior to the workout.

Here’s Kaepernick’s full statement following his workout:

“Let me start by saying, I appreciate y’all coming out. That means a lot to me. Our biggest thing with everything today is making sure we had transparency with what went on. We weren’t getting that elsewhere, so we came out here.It’s important that y’all are here. Y’all been attacked for the last three years, you continue to be attacked. We appreciate what y’all do, we appreciate you being here today, we appreciate the work you do for the people in telling the truth. That’s what we want in everything. I’ve been ready for three years. I’ve been denied for three years. We all know why I came out here today and showed it in front of everybody. We have nothing to hide. So we’re waiting for the 32 owners, the 32 teams, Roger Goodell, all of them to stop running, stop running from the truth, stop running from the people. Around here, we’re ready to play, we’re ready to go anywhere, my agent Jeff Nalley is ready to talk to any team. I’ll interview with any team at any time. I’ve been ready. I’m staying ready. And I’ll continue to be ready. To all the people that came out today to support, I appreciate y’all, I love y’all. To the people that aren’t here, I’m thinking of you, I appreciate you supporting from where you are. We’ll continue to give you updates as we hear. We’ll be waiting to hear from Roger Goodell, the NFL, 32 teams. We’ll let you know if we hear from them. The ball’s in their court. We’re ready to go.”

Bruno Sammartino, a wrestling Hall of Famer, died early Wednesday at age 82, the WWE announced.

WWE Legend Bruno Sammartino Death, Tributes

Although the exact cause of death remains unknown, Sammartino had been hospitalized for two months, according to several reports.

Sammartino defeated Buddy Rogers at New York’s Madison Square Garden in May 1963 — competing in the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation — and from that point on began a record championship-win streak. His reign ended when he lost to Ivan Koloff in January 1971.

Sammartino retook his belt in December 1973 and went on a three-year undefeated run, one of the five-longest world championship reigns in pro wrestling history.

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Known as “the Italian Superman,” Sammartino immigrated from Pizzoferrato, a town in central Italy, to Pittsburgh when he was just 15 years old.

Vincent McMahon, the chairman and CEO of WWE, called Sammartino “one of the finest men I knew, in life and in business” in a tweet on Wednesday afternoon.

Sammartino was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013. Before this, he told ESPN of the honor in an interview.

“Being inducted into the Hall of Fame at Madison Square Gardens is the biggest thing in my life,” Sammartino told ESPN. “Anytime that people feel that you accomplished enough to enter into a Hall of Fame, of course this is a tremendous, tremendous thrill for me. I had a lot of my success due to appearing at the Garden.”

Sammartino revealed in some interviews the harsh living conditions he endured — including starvation — in Italy both during and after World War II.

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Here are more tributes to Sammartino:

“Nobody deserves to be recognized for being a big star and paving the way for the stars of today more than Bruno,” said WWE executive Paul “Triple H” Levesque, when the legend was inducted into the Hall of Fame. “Everything that we have today in the business, Bruno was a cornerstone of that foundation.”