Law Firms Want Vince McMahon To Testify Under Oath In Class Action Lawsuit

At least seven law firms are investigating whether the recent Vince McMahon hush-money scandal harmed investors who held stock in WWE. Since the scandal broke, Vince McMahon temporarily stepped down as CEO and WWE lost $578 million in value. The stock fell from around $67 per share to under $60. Attorneys have been trying to determine if a class-action lawsuit can be brought against the company to recover those losses.

WWE could face significant financial liability if enough evidence is gathered. The interested firms are already looking for investors to join a potential suit. There is another twist to the story that will be of extreme interest to WWE’s board of directors.

In this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer discussed the potential lawsuits. One of the main ideas is to force Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis to testify under oath during discovery. WWE would not be thrilled with that, opening the possibility for settlements before the cases ever get started.

“Since the story broke, WWE stock has declined from $67.18 per share to $59.46, meaning the company value has dropped $578 million in eight days to $4.421 billion.

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If it does stay down from the level it was when the story broke, the idea is to file a class action suit for the stock price losses. The idea is to get it to discovery, where Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis would have to discuss the situations under oath. The idea is that WWE would do anything to make sure that doesn’t happen, and settle out of court, similar to the Saudi Arabia case. If the stock price is around $67, there is no strong case because it didn’t lead to long-term losses. Any significant stock price decline will have these and other companies trying to tie the news stories as the reason and filing suit would open these case up for discovery.”

Similar lawsuits were filed regarding issues with stockholders and WWE’s dealings with the government of Saudi Arabia. The company paid a $39 million out-of-court settlement to avoid discovery in that case. The same thing could be coming if it turns out these law firms have legal standing to sue. WWE will do what they can to avoid Vince McMahon taking the stand.

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