Vince McMahon facing new legal demands, ‘intends to make comeback’ to WWE

Former WWE chairman Vince McMahon is facing new legal demands from two women who allege that he sexually assaulted them.

The Wall Street Journal published an article on Tuesday revealing that McMahon’s attorney received a demand letter from Rita Chatterton’s lawyer on November 3 asking for $11.75 million in damages. Chatterton, who was the first female referee in WWE history, publicly accused McMahon of raping her in the back of a limo in New York in 1986.

Also in November, McMahon’s attorney received an email from a lawyer for a former spa manager who says that McMahon assaulted her at a California resort in 2011. That incident had not been reported in the media until now.

The letter from Chatterton’s lawyer states that Chatterton “has suffered years of ongoing depression, substance abuse, disordered eating, lost income, and overall a decreased quality of life” following McMahon’s alleged rape.

Former wrestlers Greg Valentine (John Wisniski) and Mario Mancini (Leonard Inzitari) told the Wall Street Journal that Chatterton disclosed the allegations to them after the alleged rape. While Mancini believes Chatterton, Valentine told the Wall Street Journal that he didn’t believe her then or now “because he didn’t think she was attractive enough for Mr. McMahon.”

McMahon’s assault of the spa manager is claimed to have happened while WWE was in Southern California for an event. The Wall Street Journal reports that, according to people familiar with the matter, the spa manager reported the alleged assault to the five-star resort she was working at:

The spa manager reported the alleged assault at the time to the resort, according to people familiar with the matter.

The spa manager also told her husband about the incident, some of these people said. He drove to the WWE event with a baseball bat and tried to confront Mr. McMahon, but was turned away, according to these people.

The woman’s lawyer, Michael Bressler, has been in touch with Mr. McMahon’s attorney since at least July, according to people familiar with the discussions.

According to the Wall Street Journal, McMahon has told people that he refuses to pay settlements to Chatterton or the spa manager.

The Wall Street Journal writes that New York “recently opened a one-year window that allows victims to file sex-abuse lawsuits based on decades-old claims.” California also “has a new law that allows alleged victims of sex abuse to file lawsuits that would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations. Starting in January, victims will have a one-year window to file such claims.”

Amid a hush-money scandal, McMahon announced his retirement from WWE this July. The Wall Street Journal reported at the time that McMahon had agreed to pay more than $12 million to four women over the past 16 years to “suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity.” The four women were all formerly associated with WWE.

Despite his retirement, McMahon remains WWE’s majority shareholder. In the Wall Street Journal story that was published today, it’s noted that McMahon has told people that he “intends to make a comeback” to WWE. McMahon feels that he received “bad advice” from people close to him and thinks the allegations would have blown over if he didn’t step down.

The 77-year-old Mr. McMahon also has told people that he intends to make a comeback at WWE, according to the people familiar with his comments. He has said that he received bad advice from people close to him to step down and that he now believes the allegations and investigations would have blown over had he stayed, these people said.

Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan were named the new co-CEOs of WWE following McMahon’s retirement, with Stephanie also serving as the company’s new chairwoman. Paul “Triple H” Levesque was named chief content officer and is in charge of WWE’s creative.

WWE announced last month that the company’s board of directors had completed its investigation into McMahon’s hush-money payments. The Wall Street Journal writes that “a related board probe seeks to assess damage caused by Mr. McMahon’s secret pacts and to determine whether legal action against him by the WWE board is warranted, said people familiar with the matter.”