TRIGGER WARNING
Matt Riddle comments further on allegations against Vince McMahon.
On January 25, a lawsuit was filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant against Vince McMahon, WWE and former executive John Laurinaitis. The lawsuit accuses McMahon of sex trafficking, emotional abuse, and sexual assault.
Since the lawsuit was filed, past allegations have resurfaced. Former ring boys previously accused WWE officials of sexual misconduct in the 1980s. Furthermore, Ashley Massaro's allegations of being sexually assaulted while on a military base in 2007, which WWE denied knowledge of, have resurfaced.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour, Matt Riddle was asked if he ever heard anything regarding Vince.
"I've never heard anything about Vince. I've seen certain people, I'm not going to mention names, I've seen certain people make passes at certain female talent by saying, 'Come to my locker room' or that creepy kind of thing. The woman I talked to didn't go and was above that. She's a stallion and was like, 'I'm not doing that.' Like, 'Here's my number; come to my locker room.' That's where it ended, but it could have escalated, and if that person was in fear of their job or wasn't as over as they are, they probably would have gone there because 'what am I supposed to do?' Damn, I probably would have went there, 'I just need the job,'" he said.
Before Riddle was asked if he heard anything about Vince, he was asked about the allegations presented by Grant.
"Some of the things I've read are pretty disturbing, if true. At the same time, I've read the texts, which can be considered kind of disturbing, in a way. The hard part for me with all this is....it's a finicky area. It seems like he ends up in these situations. There are always large sums of money involved. I don't know. I have no idea. I know my situation and how it was. For me, I feel like that's how I feel about situations because that was my experience, being falsely accused. I don't know, maybe he's falsely accused, but those texts, there are good amount of texts. It's a pretty big trial situation. A lot of money involved. NDAs were issued and signed at one point. I don't know. There are a lot of red flags, for sure. I don't think it was great. There are a lot of red flags in professional wrestling, period. There are a lot of red flags in Hollywood, period. It's not a knock on Hollywood or wrestling. When you run billion dollar industries that are fueled by athletes or good looking people or actors or entertainers, and how you choose said entertainers, there's a lot of room for mess. With WWE, my situation, sent me to rehab. I won't say anything bad. They did the best they could and what they thought was best for me. I honestly think that. I think they thought putting my in rehab throughout the holidays for the remainder of the year, they thought it was the best thing for me. I disagree. Maybe the first month, take the holidays, but another 30 days was a little rough and you overdid it, but I get why you did it. You're protecting yourself and investment and you're looking out of me. Nine times out of ten, WWE did the right thing, but there are still going to be a couple of bad apples. Entertainment is a weird world and it's a lot of politics and navigation. I feel WWE does the best they can. MLW and New Japan do the best they can, and that's why I align myself with these companies," he said.
Elsewhere during the interview, Riddle commented on his failed drug tests. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
In the summer of 2020, Riddle was accused of sexually assaulting female independent wrestler Candy Cartwright. Riddle denied the allegation. A lawsuit was filed in October 2020 by Cartwright, but dropped in July 2021.
Riddle will defend the NJPW World TV Title against Bad Dude Tito at MLW Intimidation Games on February 29.
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