Vince McMahon reportedly is facing legal demands from two women who have accused him of sexual assault, but the majority owner of WWE also is planning a comeback.
The 77-year-old resigned from his position as chairman and CEO of WWE on July 22 after a board investigation revealed he has paid over $12 million in secret payments since 2006 to cover up alleged sexual misconduct with an employee. The payments should have been recorded as company expenses because they benefitted WWE.
His daughter, Stephanie McMahon, and president Nick Khan took over as co-CEOs of the company, and his son-in-law, Paul Levesque, also known as Triple H, took over WWE programming as chief content officer. Since Vince McMahon's resignation, WWE's stock has continued to increase to as much as $74.63 per share as of Tuesday morning compared to when it was $66.22 per share on July 22. McMahon remains majority shareholder of the company.
The new legal demands came from internal documents and people familiar with the legal negotiations, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"In a Nov. 3 demand letter to Mr. McMahon's representative, a lawyer for former wrestling referee Rita Chatterton asked for $11.75 million in damages after she publicly accused Mr. McMahon three decades ago of raping her in a limousine," the WSJ reported Tuesday. "Mr. McMahon has long denied the allegations. The demand letter was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
"In a separate November email to Mr. McMahon's attorney, a lawyer for a former spa manager said that Mr. McMahon assaulted his client in 2011 at a California resort, an incident previously unreported in the media."
WWE has declined to comment on McMahon's allegations and his longtime lawyer, Jerry McDevitt, also has declined to comment.
McMahon reportedly has told people he refuses to pay settlements to Ms. Chatterton and the former spa manager. If he does do so, it likely will be reported by WWE,
Despite the legal demands and reported internal feeling about his active status in the company, McMahon reportedly has told people he plans on making a comeback at WWE.
"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," the WSJ reported.
WWE has yet to comment on the legal demands or rumors of McMahon's backstage return as of late Tuesday morning.
