Rikishi Comments on Feeling WWE Took the Intercontinental Title Off Of Jey Uso Too Soon
A recent episode of the Off The Top podcast, WWE Hall of Famer and co-host Rikishi gave his thoughts about his son Jey Uso losing his Intercontinental Championship to Bron Breakker on the October 21st WWE RAW show.
“I thought it was too soon. Too soon. If I’m the promoter, and I’m gonna speak business-wise, yes, finally Jey had gotten his flowers with the belt, rightfully earned and deserving. Now, okay, we got it on this kid, he’s well over, you got so much you can see now. This character, this ‘YEET’ man, it is through the roof as far as notoriety. Probably selling the number one hottest merchandise, if not close to [Roman Reigns], maybe he’s surpassed. Now you see the different sides of merchandise, he’s got merchandise with every city he goes to, it’s like there’s a ‘YEET’ shirt. So from a marketing standpoint, you’re only gonna do even more better good business if you leave that on this kid. Not saying because he’s my boy, not saying that. I’m probably speaking as a promoter now. Because at the end of the day, this is what it’s about it, man. It’s about numbers, it’s about revenues, it’s about okay, we build, try to find the right person that’s over, the right heel that’s over, and let’s run the storyline because at the end of the day, it’s that. So for me, I would have protected this character of ‘YEET’ a lot longer. ‘YEET’s’ been around 17 years as far as with a tag team, and he’s won over a lot of hearts when he went on the single run.
Now Bron, we know where Bron comes from. But wrestling Bron too early, you’re not giving me time to get invested into Bron Breakker. I need to watch this kid struggle, watch his growth, his progress, where you’re gonna, as a fan, I feel Bron deserves a chance now. Versus a lot of time, back in the day, and I’m not saying this is Bron, but back in the day, they would just rush people. They did it to John Cena, just rushed him, and people just, he was a great guy, but people just booed him and boos him until finally the people fell in love and was invested. So that’s the case here with Jey. I feel like, from a business standpoint, yeah, maybe it was taken off too early. I wouldn’t have done it if I was the guy in charge, if it was my company. But that’s just my opinion. Now, we have it on Bron. So okay, where do we go from Bron now? From a business standpoint, is there merchandise being made? What’s the sales on this? At the end of the day, I always look at everything that’s done in a business standpoint. It has nothing to do with the person himself. I’m looking at the characters. I look at the characters that are out there, and then I look at, okay, what’s the revenue?”
Transcript h/t: Fightful.com
Janel Grant Spokesperson Releases Statement Criticizing WWE Over Lack of Sexual Harassment Guidelines on Their Corporate Website
As noted before, former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit this past January against former TKO Executive Chairman Vince McMahon accusing McMahon of committing sex trafficking and sexual abuse towards her during her time in the company. Grant’s legal team recently emailed WWE, McMahon, and John Laurinaitis’ legal teams requesting for WWE to release former and current employees from their non-disclosure agreements that are related to their allegations and legal case against McMahon.
In an official statement released on Tuesday, Grant’s spokesperson criticized WWE for the lack of a sexual harassment guidelines on their corporate website despite the company’s claims of having improved their workplace environment.
ICYMI: Forbes Reports That WWE’s Website Does Not Include Sexual Harassment Policies Amid Various Lawsuits Alleging Toxic Workplace Culture and Sexual Abuse
Spokesperson for Janel Grant: “It is outrageous that WWE claims to have improved their workplace environment, yet they have no visible sexual harassment or workplace conduct policies listed on their website…WWE employees deserve better.”
Washington, D.C. – In case you missed it, Forbes recently published shocking new details that the WWE organization does not provide sexual harassment guidlines on its corporate website, as allegations of toxic workplace culture, sexual abuse, and trafficking continue to be brought against former WWE CEO Vince McMahon, other WWE executives, and the WWE organization. Forbes contributor Alfred Konuwa points out that, “A search of WWE’s Code of Business Conduct leads to a page that simply reads ‘not found.’”
In a statement, Kendra Barkoff Lamy, the spokesperson for Janel Grant, told Forbes that “WWE has been sued many times for failing to protect employees from sexual misconduct by executives and toxic workplace culture, including by Janel Grant, who endured years of sexual abuse at the hands of founder and former WWE CEO Vince McMahon, WWE executive John Laurinaitis, and the WWE organization.” Lamy outlines that WWE’s failure to provide “visible guidelines to report abuse” and a “reference for appropriate behavior” is “yet another example of WWE’s carelessness” and a “dangerous oversight.”
In October, the attorneys for Ms. Grant sent a letter to WWE, and parent companies, Endeavor Group Holdings and TKO Group Holdings, asking that nondisclosure agreements be waived to allow former and current employees to speak freely on the abuse they experienced within WWE. WWE has refused to comply with the request, and have not freed former employees from their NDAs.
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The full text of the Forbes article is below:
Forbes: Janel Grant’s Spokesperson Comments On WWE’s Lack Of Sexual Harassment Policy
WWE continues to deal with the fallout from multiple lawsuits against former Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon, whose indiscretions once again took center stage in the recent Mr. McMahon docuseries on Netflix.
McMahon was promptly ousted from WWE following ugly allegations from a sex trafficking lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant. McMahon denied these allegations as “replete with lies.” McMahon’s departure has coincided with a new era in WWE that continues to achieve countless financial milestones in its live event business and television rights fees. But even with record-breaking live gates and strong ratings, WWE’s office culture has been under a microscope with the ghosts of Vince McMahon still haunting Stamford.
WWE does not currently have a sexual harassment policy listed on its corporate website. A search of WWE’s Code of Business Conduct leads to a page that simply reads “not found.”
Janel Grant’s Spokesperson Comments On ‘Toxic’ WWE Workplace
“WWE has been sued many times for failing to protect employees from sexual misconduct by executives and toxic workplace culture, including by Janel Grant, who endured years of sexual abuse at the hands of founder and former WWE CEO Vince McMahon, WWE executive John Laurinaitis, and the WWE organization,” said Kendra Barkoff Lamy, Janel Grant’s spokesperson.“It is outrageous that WWE claims to have improved their workplace environment, yet they have no visible sexual harassment or workplace conduct policies listed on their website. This means WWE employees have no reference for appropriate behavior and no visible guidelines to report abuse. This is yet another example of WWE’s carelessness and failure to protect their employees, and we can only hope no one is harmed by this dangerous oversight. WWE employees deserve better.”
WWE did not respond to a request for comment. This article will be updated if and when it does.
WWE’s Consensual Relationship Policy, reportedly established in June of 2023, was leaked by POST Wrestling and Wrestlenomics earlier this year.
“An employee shall not exercise responsibility (instructional, evaluative, or supervisory) for any affiliated individual with whom the employee has or had a consensual relationship,” the policy states.The policy also addresses consensual relationship regarding WWE executives.
“WWE strongly discourages consensual relationships involving any WWE Board Member, or executive team member, such as the CEO, President, CFO, Chief Content Officer, Chief Legal Officer, or Chief Human Resources Officer.”
Janel Grant Lawsuit Gives Way To More Legal Issues For Vince McMahon, WWE
In addition to Grant filing a sex trafficking lawsuit against Vince McMahon and former WWE executive John Laurinaitis, Grant’s legal team recently submitted a new filing against wellness doctor Carlon Colker and Peak Wellness. Dr. Colker (referred to as a “Celebrity Doctor” throughout the Grant lawsuit) has denied any wrongdoing. Dr. Colker withdrew his petition against Grant’s lawsuit in September. WWE, TKO, Vince and Linda McMahon were recently named in a new lawsuit stemming from the Ring Boys Scandal in 1992, citing WWE’s alleged negligence to the abuse of minors. The scandal was highlighted in the Mr. McMahon documentary, which was mentioned as evidence in the lawsuit.
The allegations against McMahon and WWE come at a time where LA prosecutors are now recommending resentencing Eric and Lyle Menendez in light of the hit drama series Monsters based on the 1989 killing of their parents. The resentencing could be the first step toward a possible conviction change which could ultimately set them free after they were found guilty of the murders. Monsters, which also aired on Netflix, premiered just six days before Mr. McMahon. Both Netflix series have sparked a trend of old cases being reopened for investigation as the streaming giant is slowly becoming a crime scene in and of itself.
WWE News & Notes
ECW legend Francine recently announced on Twitter that she will be making an appearance for WWE at next week’s NXT show at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Fightful Select’ Sean Ross Sapp reported that his sources stated that WWE officials recently reached out to WWE Hall of Famer Lita for a potential match at next week’s NXT show at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. Sapp reported that those spoken to stated that WWE’s pitch to Lita was for a potential multi-women tag team match at the show. WWE officials reportedly had pitched this match throughout the past week. This match ended up being revealed during Tuesday’s NXT show to be a 10-Women Tag Team match of Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, & Jazmyn Nyx), Cora Jade, & Roxanne Perez vs. Zaria, Stephanie Vaquer, Kelani Jordan, Giulia, & Jordynne Grace.
This past Monday’s WWE RAW show in Hershey, Pennsylvania featured a backstage segment involving The Miz trying to reunite with R-Truth to get help over the Wyatt Sicks targeting him as their next victim, which led to R-Truth rejecting him over still being upset that Miz had attacked him and broke up their tag team. In a follow-up segment, The Miz was confronted by The Final Testament and was reluctant to join forces to deal with his issues with the Wyatt Sicks even with the threats of violence by Kross if he didn’t comply. Kross recently provided an update on Twitter stating the Scarlett had notified him that The Miz had been kidnapped by the Wyatt Sicks and he would only spend 10 minutes to try to find The Miz before going back to his hotel room.
WWE recently released two new videos to their WWE Vault channel on YouTube. The first new video was a WWE Tag Team Championship Buried Alive match of The Undertaker & Big Show vs. Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection (The Rock and Mankind) (c) from the September 9, 1999 episode of WWE SmackDown. The second new video was Dusty Rhodes famous “Hard Times” promo from 1985.
In a recent interview with The Schmo, Cody Rhodes gave his thoughts about his brother Dustin Rhodes wrestling career and his belief that Dustin is worthy of being inducted into WWE’s Hall of Fame. Rhodes stated “I think I was 14 years old when Goldust was really hitting his stride on WWE television. I can certainly say that it was a unique thing to see. My friends had a lot of feelings about what Goldust was doing. However, knowing how much he had subverted expectations, knowing how much he didn’t want to just be a Rhodes, he wanted to be his own thing. I was very proud of Dustin throughout that whole run, what he did, and the lengths he went to do it. Goldust was an underrated part of the Attitude Era, certainly somebody worthy of the Hall of Fame.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)
In a recent interview with The Lame Guys Podcast, former WWE talent Bobby Lashley gave his thoughts about working with Omos in WWE and claimed that there were people within WWE trying to get Omos fired from the company. Lashley stated “That was cool, that was cool (working Omos at WrestleMania 38) and I’m taking the credit for Omos. Everybody else will, because he started turning it on after that, because when he first came on, they were gonna fire him because he hurt a couple people. He’s a freaking giant. He makes me feel like a child and when he came in there at the beginning, he was wrestling with certain people and there was a couple people like, ‘Gosh dang it!’ And yelling at him and trying to make him look bad to the office and trying to get him fired because he hit a dude hard and stuff like that. So when they put him with me, I was like, ‘I’ll work with him,’ because I understand where he’s coming from and I had the mentality of Taker. Taker looked at somebody like him saying, ‘I wanna work with that guy.’ Some of these guys are like, ‘I wanna work with my buddy because we can make a cool match, we can do cool stuff.’ Man, you gotta overcome obstacles. That’s what wrestling is about, and I was like, he’s an obstacle for me. Not too many people are but he is an obstacle for me. He’s bigger, stronger — well, I don’t know about stronger (Lashley laughed). He’s bigger.” (Transcript h/t: Post Wrestling.com)
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