The Wall Street Journal Vince McMahon Thread.

[dragonzombie]

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/ari-emanuel-mark-shapiro-requested-vince-mcmahon-resign-from-tko

[JLowe]

https://www.vice.com/en/article/88x7ex/ashley-massaro-vince-mcmahon-john-laurinaitis-rape-cover-up-wwe

Shit is getting very serious, Laurinitis goes on the record about the Ashley Massaro situation.

[Elsalvajeloco]

54 minutes ago, JLowe said:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/88x7ex/ashley-massaro-vince-mcmahon-john-laurinaitis-rape-cover-up-wwe

Shit is getting very serious, Laurinitis goes on the record about the Ashley Massaro situation.

I'll take "Things That Won't End Well" for 800, Alex.

How putrid and disgusting is it for all this to be covered up just cause Vince doesn't want someone to destroy his little appreciation thing for the troops like he's Bob Hope?

[zendragon]

On 2/6/2024 at 6:20 AM, Zakk_Sabbath said:

This is the reason that I'm trying to give a bit of grace to your Nashes and Foleys saying things like "I mean, I wasn't there..." or "I don't know all the facts." The entire situation has got to be hard to reconcile for any performer who was part of the machine at the level they were. I think Dolfan was on the money when he used the phrase "bite the hand that feeds" - if you take someone like Nash, who went from bouncing at nipple clubs to main eventing the Garden, or Foley, who grew up in NY with Vince calling matches, I can see the idea of hesitancy or resistance to admitting to one's self "A violent rapist enabled me to buy this house and send my kids to this really good school" or whatever it is - for others it may be a movie career, for some it could be like "I get to charge $5 more for an 8x10 since I was on WWE TV"

Edit: This is all, of course, setting aside the ingrained "One more run" or "Defend the business" aspects we discussed pages back

I remember when Vince stepped down the 1st time Foley put up a Thank You Vince  post on FB, now sure Mick Foley has been able to take care of his family in a good lifestyle due to Vince saying yes to giving him a shot, so I understand but the optics of that where off.

[Cobra Commander]

5 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

How putrid and disgusting is it for all this to be covered up just cause Vince doesn't want someone to destroy his little appreciation thing for the troops like he's Bob Hope?

anybody ever get it on the record if/how much the WWE was getting paid to do Tribute to the Troops?

[Elsalvajeloco]

I believe they did it for free, which is probably why the shows now are just shot before or after Smackdown or use an episode of Smackdown designated for that in the case of last year.

[Cobra Commander]

with what the military paid the NFL and other leagues over the years, I would be surprised if the WWE really didn't get paid. PR-wise, it sounds a lot better if they say they did it for free.

But yeah, most of the Tribute to the Troops was basically a sold show with some matches just because and a crowd happy to just see anything. So considering what other entities got and how the military can spend their money, it wouldn't have surprised me if the WWE made money off of that. Then again, they probably would be committing crimes if they had put it on paper that they didn't get paid, in the spirit of how Vince is more likely to get popped for the lies on earnings reports than all the rapes.

[odessasteps]

Insert Steph philanthropy quote here

[Sublime]

I would love to see more wrestlers condemning Vince and the culture of WWE but we shouldn’t get our hopes up for that to happen. A lot of those guys are having to process things also and for someone like Foley it’s going to be hard to out right bad mouth Vince because Mick probably realizes that with out Vince giving him a real chance and putting him into storylines that involved Vince himself, Foley would probably be taking bookings in Puerto Rico to bleed buckets today to keep the cash flowing in. That’s going to be the same for a lot of wrestlers especially more top guys, when the guy who made the decisions that lead to you leading a normal life is a monster you have to look into the mirror and either acknowledge that you benefited from a monster or try to rationalize or deny it.
 

And also a lot of wrestlers are scum bags who probably want to give Vince a high five. Just remember that you still have morals and don’t look to pro wrestlers for anything other than entertainment 

[TimLivingston]

@Lawful Metal, a question for you: What are the chances of this becoming a RICO case at some point? Given the civil cases will lead to criminal investigations and then charges, is there a decent chance that all of these will be similar enough that RICO happens?

@Greggulator continues to be the voice of reason and bringing everything back to reality on here; the enduring journalistic legacy of this board. 

[Greggulator]

51 minutes ago, Cobra Commander said:

with what the military paid the NFL and other leagues over the years, I would be surprised if the WWE really didn't get paid. PR-wise, it sounds a lot better if they say they did it for free.

But yeah, most of the Tribute to the Troops was basically a sold show with some matches just because and a crowd happy to just see anything. So considering what other entities got and how the military can spend their money, it wouldn't have surprised me if the WWE made money off of that. Then again, they probably would be committing crimes if they had put it on paper that they didn't get paid, in the spirit of how Vince is more likely to get popped for the lies on earnings reports than all the rapes.

I didn't see anything in any financial documents about Tribute to the Troops. I didn't scour every document, but I just did a little bit. There are references to Saudi Arabia, though. This leads me to believe that the Tribute to the Troops is just all PR for the WWE. If they made a lot of money from Tribute to the Troops, they'd disclose it in the documents. If there's any money they make from it, it's just like a normal house show (since they have it at arenas now.) Maybe the military pays for travel or set-up. There's probably a FOIA request someone can file to get some more information about how the whole thing unfolded but that's way more paperwork than I'm interested in dealing with right now. 

[Greggulator]

58 minutes ago, Cobra Commander said:

with what the military paid the NFL and other leagues over the years, I would be surprised if the WWE really didn't get paid. PR-wise, it sounds a lot better if they say they did it for free.

But yeah, most of the Tribute to the Troops was basically a sold show with some matches just because and a crowd happy to just see anything. So considering what other entities got and how the military can spend their money, it wouldn't have surprised me if the WWE made money off of that. Then again, they probably would be committing crimes if they had put it on paper that they didn't get paid, in the spirit of how Vince is more likely to get popped for the lies on earnings reports than all the rapes.

Also, if the WWE did get paid for Tribute to the Troops, they'd probably want to report it. They just got a big check from the US government. That's a big sign of legitimacy to the really big huge investors out there. 

[hammerva]

Do you think Big Johnny is so delusional that he thinks ratting out Vince is his best way to get back in the company?

[Zakk_Sabbath]

2 minutes ago, hammerva said:

Do you think Big Johnny is so delusional that he thinks ratting out Vince is his best way to get back in the company?

No way. Panic move to save his own ass, like any rat.

[Go2Sleep]

5 minutes ago, hammerva said:

Do you think Big Johnny is so delusional that he thinks ratting out Vince is his best way to get back in the company?

No, but he (probably correctly) thinks it's the only way he can stay out of federal prison.

[Lawful Metal]

40 minutes ago, TimLivingston said:

@Lawful Metal, a question for you: What are the chances of this becoming a RICO case at some point? Given the civil cases will lead to criminal investigations and then charges, is there a decent chance that all of these will be similar enough that RICO happens?

@Greggulator continues to be the voice of reason and bringing everything back to reality on here; the enduring journalistic legacy of this board. 

No idea.  Anything is possible!

[Elsalvajeloco]

What is this...Donnie Brasco? Is John suppose to lie for Vince?

Listen...the WWE knew when they hired Johnny Ace what type of guy he was. And then they promoted him. He might take the fall for firing people and passing on bad news, but if he has no connection with WWE, why would he protect them?

[Technico Support]

Tribute to the Troops is a hilarious reminder that 2003 WWE rode a wave of post 9/11 jingoism and pro military PR, and then just about a decade later started holding shows in the country responsible for 9/11.  What a ride and what a testament to McMahon's absolute lack of humanity.  In case you needed more ammo for that one.

Edited February 7 by Technico Support

[odessasteps]

13 minutes ago, Lawful Metal said:

No idea.  Anything is possible!

I heard someone bring up the Mann Act. Is that still on the books? 

[odessasteps]

7 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

What is this...Donnie Brasco? Is John suppose to lie for Vince?

Listen...the WWE knew when they hired Johnny Ace what type of guy he was. And then they promoted him. He might take the fall for firing people and passing on bad news, but if he has no connection with WWE, why would he protect them?

Wait until people hear the rumors about Johnny and Mrs Baba. 

[(BP)]

If memory serves, Tribute to the Troops was JBL’s idea, and he’s probably been jazzed to take credit for it until right now. 

[Lawful Metal]

2 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

I heard someone bring up the Mann Act. Is that still on the books? 

Mann Act is for bringing prostitutes over state lines.  I mean, I guess it depends on how we define prostitutes.  I don't think there's been any prosecutions for the Mann Act since Boardwalk Empire.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

26 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

What is this...Donnie Brasco? Is John suppose to lie for Vince?

Listen...the WWE knew when they hired Johnny Ace what type of guy he was. And then they promoted him. He might take the fall for firing people and passing on bad news, but if he has no connection with WWE, why would he protect them?

What year is HHH up to in his pop culture references? 

I might start watching WWE again if they start lifting from Donnie Brasco. Of course, from what I read they're lifting from Seinfeld now. Maybe we'll eventually have a wrestler who only goes by his last name turn out to be named Cosmo.

Edited February 7 by Nice Guy Eddie

[odessasteps]

I guess the hypothetical question would be: if Vince brought a woman (Jamel or anyone else) from CT to MSG or a PPV show for the purpose of having sex with Johnny or another person, would that qualify as either sex trafficking and/or prostitution? 

[Elsalvajeloco]

34 minutes ago, Lawful Metal said:

Mann Act is for bringing prostitutes over state lines.  I mean, I guess it depends on how we define prostitutes.  I don't think there's been any prosecutions for the Mann Act since Boardwalk Empire.

I think the Mann Act was only really used for Jack Johnson. Hell, they had Jack Dempsey appear or set a storyline on the show based around a Dempsey fight and Dempsey was a generation slightly after Jack Johnson. So we're talking about well over a century ago. Even then, based on how they used it on Jack Johnson, they made it so you can interpret any type of way so that's not exactly what I would bring up for sex trafficking.