WWE Denounces Former Superstar’s Saudi Testimony As ‘Phony’ In Exclusive Statement

WWE has responded, through lawyer Jerry McDevitt at K&L Gates
GTES
—WWE’s outside counsel—to the mounting accusations against it as a result of several class action lawsuits.

An amended class action complaint—filed by Firefighters Pension System of the City of Kansas City Missouri Trust—featured anonymous testimony from a recently released former WWE Superstar, who recounted an alleged “hostage situation” last November where talent was stranded in Saudi Arabia amid flight delays.

The Superstar accused the promotion of abusing their power and threatening careers in its dealings with talent refusing to work in Saudi Arabia.

“These false allegations were originally made in two suits filed by two different law firms,” read the exclusive statement from McDevitt.

“After the Court appointed a third firm to be lead counsel, WWE provided all three law firms with specific detailed facts from the persons with actual knowledge of the situation, including the phony allegation about the plane. The first two law firms then dropped their lawsuits to avoid sanction motions, but the third firm chose to ignore the specific facts they had been provided, and instead cited an unnamed disgruntled former wrestler with no knowledge of the facts. WWE is preparing its response to the lawsuit and will be moving to have it dismissed.”

Accusations leveled against WWE include “wildly unreasonable expectations of the revenue it expected from a potential broadcast partner,” proposing an $80 million licensing fee for its projection of 100 OTT subscribers per an anonymous MBC (Middle East Broadcasting Company) employee included in the lawsuit. Other firms have accused WWE of misleading investors by attributing live event product declines to Superstar absences due to injury.

WWE remains steadfast that the accusations listed in these class action lawsuits are false as it moves to have the cases thrown out.

WWE reported its highest revenue in history in 2019 on the strength of its massive television-rights deals with NBCUniversal and FOX.