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Published January 26, 2024, 12:23 PM ET
Retired WWE professional wrestler Lance Storm spoke out about “disgusting” allegations that Vince McMahon sexually abused a female employee, including with sex toys he named after wrestling stars, according to a bombshell lawsuit filed Thursday.
“Look, I was one of the few people who said he had to be gone when the story first broke,” Storm said of a 2022 Wall Street Journal report when news of WWE payouts first broke on several women who had committed sexual misconduct.
McMahon briefly stepped down as chairman and CEO of WWE in July 2022, but returned in January 2023 as chairman of TKO Group Holdings, WWE's parent company.
“I have strongly opposed him being allowed back into the office and on shows,” Storm told “Wrestling Observer Live” co-host Bryan Alvarez on Thursday, adding that he would boycott WWE programming if McMahon will take on a leadership role again in 2023.
Retired professional wrestler Lance Storm said he hopes criminal charges are filed against Vince McMahon after the wrestling manager was accused of “disgusting” sexual misconduct in a new lawsuit.
“This is classic sex offender stuff – find someone unlucky and start grooming them and bending them to your will,” Storm added of the explosive lawsuit filed this week in federal court in Connecticut who names one of the women who allegedly received a payout from McMahon.
Janel Grant broke her silence in court documents that revealed McMahon's use of sex toys caused her injuries such as bruising and bleeding.
In another shocking incident, the wrestling magnate allegedly puked on Grant's head during a threesome in May 2020 and took her for sex with other WWE executives, according to the complaint.
“This is absolutely disgusting and he needs to go away and I hope there are criminal charges if any of this is even remotely true,” Storm said.
“Since there are so many NDAs [non-disclosure agreements] and a long list of things, I can't imagine how it can't be,” added Storm, 54, who retired from the ring in 2004.
In light of the allegations, Storm – who now works as a producer for TNA Wrestling – added: “He [McMahon] are thrown off the board, take away the keys to the office [and] ban him from going to the shows.”
“I think there needs to be a legitimate cleansing of anyone who covered something up and knew about it.”
John Laurinaitis, the former head of WWE talent relations, is named as a defendant in the lawsuit after he was allegedly recruited by McMahon to have sex with Grant.
Grant was instructed by McMahon to visit Laurinaitis in his hotel rooms, where she had sex with him before work days, according to the lawsuit.
Storm said the details of the lawsuit filed reveal “classic sexual predators.” The complaint comes after WWE reportedly investigated a $3 million payment from McMahon to a departing employee following a consensual affair. WireImage
During another encounter at WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, in June 2021, McMahon and Laurinaitis forced themselves on her and took turns tying her up for the other, the lawsuit says.
“No means yes” and “Take it, bra” were among the things McMahon and Laurinaitis said to Grant during the alleged attack, court documents say.
Although there have been allegations of sexual misconduct against McMahon for at least three years, WWE has stated in its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that while the federal investigation into McMahon is ongoing, no charges have been filed.
Former WWE employee Janel Grant claimed McMahon sexually abused her, including using sex toys named after WWE stars.
And although WWE created a “special committee” to review the allegations against McMahon in 2022, it was completed in November of that year.
McMahon said in a statement at the time: “Throughout this experience, I have consistently denied any intentional wrongdoing and will continue to do so. “I am confident that the government's investigation will be completed without any findings of wrongdoing.”
However, users on social media don't seem so convinced.
Grant also alleged in the lawsuit that she was trafficked by McMahon for sex with other WWE executives at the company's headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. Google Street View
In response to Storm's comments on the wrestling news-focused radio show, many agreed that “Vince has to go.”
“Vince is a fucking sick monster. Get rid of him now!” Another wrote, while a user named Matt Cruz warned: “Getting rid of everyone is much easier said than done.”
“Vince is so powerful that those complicit could easily say they were coerced or risk losing their livelihoods,” Cruz warned.
Filed under Statement of Claim, Lawsuits, Sex Crimes, Sex Trafficking, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, Vince McMahon, WWE, WWE Network, 01/26/24
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