TKO Accused of Being Fully Aware of WWE’s Numerous Scandals Before Merger

Last year saw the integration of WWE and UFC into the TKO umbrella, marking a significant shift in the landscape of sports entertainment. With that said, TKO has now been accused of being fully aware of all of WWE’s scandals before the merger.

Vince McMahon, at 77 years old, announced his retirement for the first time following hush-money allegations back in 2022. It was eventually revealed that McMahon paid $12 million in hush money to quite a few women over the last twenty years. In fact, an additional $5 million dollars of unrecorded expenses were linked to Vince McMahon.

On January 25th, a former WWE staff member named Janel Grant initiated legal proceedings against WWE, John Laurinaitis, and Vince McMahon. The lawsuit alleges that McMahon was involved in incidents of sexual assault, emotional abuse, and sex trafficking, spanning the period from their first encounter in March 2019 to March 2022. After the sexual trafficking lawsuit, Vince McMahon officially resigned from WWE and TKO Holdings.

While speaking to Brandon Thurston and Josh Pollock of Wrestlenomics, ex-WWE ring boy Tom Cole’s brother Lee Cole accused TKO of being fully aware of the various scandals associated with WWE. He pointed out that during a multi-billion dollar merger, the first step typically involves sending in investigators to review all relevant information. According to Lee, TKO knew about the issues, including Vince McMahon’s alleged efforts to buy off individuals in 2022. He emphasized that just seven days after TKO’s involvement, Vince was no longer with the company, suggesting that TKO’s knowledge of the situation was evident.

“TKO, when you make a merger, a multi-billion dollar merger, the first thing you do send in all your investigators and you see everything. They knew about all these things being signed, Vince buying everyone off in 2022. They knew about it. And then they came in and seven days later Vince is gone. So it’s obvious they knew.”

Dave Meltzer previously reported that Triple H was also reportedly aware of Vince McMahon’s scandals. Nonetheless, Vince McMahon is already dealing with numerous lawsuits right now, including the latest one regarding the ”Ring Boy Scandal,’ so it remains to be seen what will become of the former WWE Chairman in the end.

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