Wrestler Death thread

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Big Boss Man
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Re: Wrestler Death thread

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Wasn't it because Ashley wanted to keep it private?. The only person she confided in was Maria if I'm correct. Then she went to WWE management and McMahon & they said "don't let a bad experience sour our good relationship with the military"

WWEs statement is incredibly callous. Within it they actually summarise the incident and make no apologies regarding the sensitive subject matter. They use that "Sal Goodman attorney guy is trying to bring us down" defence which comes across as really juvenile.

As for reporting it, how possibly could she when they specifically told her not to?. They are also insinuating she's lying or being coerced to lie because of her attorney. As part of a concussion/CTE/TBI class action lawsuit she had no need whatsoever to create a sexual assault scenario which WWE are claiming.

I believe she should have made that totally separate with a more competent lawyer. But maybe it was still traumatising her and when in discussion it was brought forward as part of her recollection process when compiling her affadavit.

It's a shame there's no real investigative reporter who can track down the truth and have individuals who'll corroborate the evidence. There's that snippet from the blog which proves she did visit with doctor(s).

Maria has posted quite a bit about Ashley so I believe she does know the truth. As her and Mike are under a WWE contract she could be recitent to speak out. I honestly don't know legally the situation where even if she does corrobate Ashleys affidavit as factual what charges if any could be brought.

Negligence on WWEs part, in terms of not reporting a sexual assault and not protecting her on the base. I don't know if any names of the two military personnel who partook in this heinous crime have ever been brought forward. They may still be active military, retired etc.

So really it's just unfortunately hearsay and speculation until someone speaks out and corrobates Ashley's story. But WWEs handling of it is very insensitive and disrespectful. I can't really think of any investigative journalist who could get to the bottom of this story and bring those to task. WWE legal would probably stop anyone revealing the truth so it's sadly an uphill battle for Ashley's daughter and family.

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Bandit
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Re: Wrestler Death thread

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It was never private because according to what Ashley wrote Maria immediately told the others fear for her safety as well. She probably didn't want to be separated from Ron Simmons who would fight back for her since he's know as a legit tough guy. But those people were recently questioned about it and even Maria says that didn't happen. Could it be a case of them lying wanting to stay on good terms with WWE? It's possible, but Maria I would be surprised about because WWE would make the situation 100 times worse if they stopped working with someone in this situation. That makes it a bigger story. So I think she'd be free to tell the truth if that is indeed the truth, but Jimmy and Ron could be cut anytime WWE feels like it so if they're lying it's a little more understandable.

So this won't ever be solved since the victim has died and no witnesses will back her up.

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Big Boss Man
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Re: Wrestler Death thread

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Could it be a case of them lying wanting to stay on good terms with WWE?
Yes, unfortunately that seems plausible when you consider all parties involved (I assume Gary Davis is too) are under a WWE contract. No one would want to jeopardise their employement or be seen as a "whistleblower" so to speak. I believe if Maria spoke out now and corrobated Ashley's affidavit she'd be under a lot of scrutiny whereas she could have spoke out and supported her friend at the time.

WWE is very insular and even the talent themselves have said they live in the WWE bubble. So if something major like a serious sexual assault is going to make the news, it would be dealt with inhouse. They didn't want to jeopardise their Tribute to the Troops shows where the honourable thing to do is they should have supported Ashley 110% and made sure those responsible were punished to the fullest extent of the law.

Sadly I think you're right this will never be solved. The only way is if Maria comes forward with the truth. I have a hunch it's weighing on her mind which is why she's been posting about Ashley. Maria's in a really difficult situation as her & her husband are employed by WWE, but by staying silent if she does know something that isnt fair to Ashley or her family.

It's a situation which WWE were obliged to deal with at the time. Aren't they breaking law(s) by not reporting a rape, not contacting law enforcement/military police and essentially concealing a serious sexual assault as not to spoil their work with the military. That is one angle that could and should be investigated. Also if it's proven that the trauma of the assault led her to sadly take her own life surely that's WWE fault too. Because the assault happened whilst employed with them and they had a duty of care to look after her on that base.

As for locating the two responsible, Davis blog said something like 2,000 troops go to and from the base. I would doubt any CCTV etc would be still be accessible now but had it been you could discover those involved who were with her. Also the male in question was apparently a military doctor, so that narrows it down quite a bit. The woman could have been a military nurse. Maybe guilt will make them come forward, but unfortunately that's unlikely.

Again, unless anyone comes forward, maybe Ashley confided in the other Divas and/or Brian Kendrick/Paul London then there's nothing no one can do sadly. That being said, I do hope someone has the courage to speak out and Ashleys daughter and family do get justice. It might not catch the perpetrators of the sickening acts they committed, but it will prove she was telling the truth.

Then that's something WWE has to be accountable for, they have to take the heat because it was their fault they didn't sufficiently protect her on the base. It's just a tragic situation and it's really sad to think Ashley had to keep this all secret.

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Re: Wrestler Death thread

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I'm not necessarily saying I believe they're helping cover it up, just putting it out there as a possibility since wrestlers have helped cover up some crimes before (allegedly Mr. Fuji was around so long because he was "the fixer".)

I don't know what happened so it's not right to cast blame. It could very well be true. There was somewhat of a rape epidemic in the military during the Iraq War years. And Vince can be a sociopath who could have told her that. But at the same time it could be a lie because she swore under oath 4 people knew about and and they all say they didn't. So it wouldn't hold up in court at the very least. Which also doesn't mean it didn't happen, just that her word versus 4 witnesses plus Vince and Johnny Ace saying none of it happened like she says is unwinnable.

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Re: Wrestler Death thread

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WWE Accuses Ashley Massaro After Her Suicide of Committing Perjury? Independent Investigation Needed.

May 24, 2019 by Konstantine Kyros Leave a Comment

Amid controversy after Ashley committed suicide during her pending lawsuit in which she alleged she sustained concussions and was at risk for an occupational disease (CTE) that can result in suicide, WWE released a statement on 5/23/19 denying some of the allegations she made in her affidavit to a Federal Judge.

The very brief internal WWE “investigation” into the veracity of Ashley’s claims reported by WWE spokesman/lawyer Jerry McDevitt concluded components of her affidavit were “complete bullshit,” as reported by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The methodology, independence, conduct of the investigation and resulting written report were not revealed nor was its conclusion released with any degree of professionalism, integrity or credibility. As such the WWE’s conclusions should be approached cautiously.

Breaking this down from a legal standpoint it appears that WWE is saying that Ashley Massaro committed Perjury when she submitted her affidavit to the Court.

WWE reaction. So first, according to WWE in statements they released the day after her death she had apologized (excerpts, in a private email, sent to an unidentified person, with no context) to them for being in a lawsuit (that she did not ever withdraw from and that is still active in a Federal Appeals Court). Second, the WWE featured tributes to her in a PPV. Thirdly, the WWE says in an extraordinary statement that Ashley was apparently perjuring herself all along in an affidavit to a Federal Judge. Aside from the oddity of all this, it looks like a WWE Corporate cover-up, concealment of the health crisis in wrestlers after the death of a young woman who was seeking help from WWE in an active lawsuit who very likely died from neurological injuries she sustained at WWE. (The family can authorize a CTE study to prove it!)

The WWE Spokesman/lawyer (Jerry McDevitt) making the statement denying Ashley’s allegations (about a meeting) calling it “complete bullshit” to the media is hardly an unbiased source, he is the same lawyer who derided the notion that Chris Benoit (who hung himself after killing his children) could have had CTE. And he spends most of his time attacking the lawyer helping the wrestlers and ignoring similar allegations made by 60 wrestlers in Ashley’s lawsuit (in 60 affidavits- are these also BS?). And no Mr. McDevitt did not pause his antics to offer any condolences to her lawyers.

Conclusion/Call to to Action: It seems that in the absence of a Trial in which Ashley would have testified, witnesses would have appeared, and facts could be assessed by an impartial Jury, the best step for the Board of Directors of the WWE to take to resist this controversy and get to the truth would be to hire outside counsel- unaffiliated law firms (like CBS did with Les Moonves and other companies with #meToo type issues) to conduct a completely independent investigation into all of these allegations. Justice for Ashley. She deserves no less.

https://wweconcussionlawsuitnews.com/ww ... on-needed/

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Big Boss Man
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Re: Wrestler Death thread

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Is there anyway for her attorney to analyse the fan letters she received to see if anything written within them might have triggered Ashley to do what she did. Something like saying they were a survivor of sexual abuse/assault and that she was a role model to them as a youngster etc because of her character in WWE.

As something profound like that might have sadly got to her as she experienced that also. That's just a theory to try and make sense of this. We can't really compare it to Benoit because the circumstances are way different. Her last Twitter message was seemingly upbeat, she responded to like 300 fan letters and a day or two later sadly took her own life, 10 days before her 40th.

I don't want to come across as morbid, but did she leave a suicide note?. I've heard nothing regarding that. I can't fathom why she took her life, as she seemed in a good place despite unfortunately suffering with depression. I believe there had to be some sort of trigger for her to do what she did. I can't think of why she'd do it otherwise. I hope her Daughter and family find the answer and WWE if they do anything positive has to put protocols in place to protect their talent both present and those who worked there in the past.

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Re: Wrestler Death thread

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You don't want Konstantine Kyros involved with her. Nobody has any respect for him at all. He's a joke.

A lot of people suddenly appear happy when they decide to go through with suicide, thinking their pain is over. If she was going through great mental and physical pain for a decade that would seem likely.

As far as other reasons for doing it she was in financial hardship for a while. She was a part time DJ on a local radio station, but that doesn't make a lot of money. Her last surgery was paid by the government, so she was making $16,000 or less a year. That's a big drop from when she made hundreds of thousands of dollars in the 2000s. Going back into wrestling as hurt as she was with as bad of an experience as she had was probably a sign she was desperate for money. Add in that she was someone who made money on their looks turning 40 and suffering from depression and CTE and it's not out of question that she'd be suicidal. The fan letters could have set her off thinking about how she used to be famous 10 years ago and has nothing to show for it besides CTE and a hurting body. Who knows.

And no, she left no note.

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Re: Wrestler Death thread

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That fucking video that was sent to Ashley's daughter choked me up huge. Not even ashamed to say that.

This whole thing is so abominable, the kind of shit really makes it hard to not blanket-statement hate the WWE entirely, even though it's not fair to blame the whole for the actions of a very, very evil few.

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Re: Wrestler Death thread

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Yea it's not the talents fault, they have to tow the company line and the video to Ashley's daughter I believe was them reaching out and showing their support.

The buck ultimately stops with Vince, so it's his fault that he didn't do anything to protect Ashley. Them pointing fingers and saying the attorney has a vendetta against them comes across wrongly. It's on them they hide a serious sexual assault of one of their employees on a military base. They should have pursued this as a matter of importance so those who perpetrated the crime should have been punished.

I've read some really obtuse comments from WWE fans trying to defend their behaviour. It's totally inexcusable what they didn't do to, but again, it's not the wrestlers fault. Its all down to management and Vince who are responsible.

Ashley's story is picking up traction in the mainstream media now regarding the CTE

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/06/02/heal ... index.html

https://nypost.com/2019/06/01/ex-wwe-st ... icide/amp/

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Re: Wrestler Death thread

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Atsushi Aoki, who was the current All Japan Junior Heavyweight champion, was killed in a motorcycle accident today. That's the first reigning champion to die that I can think of.




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Ocelot
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Re: Wrestler Death thread

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Dude is so proud of his boys and what they accomplished right now. :D

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Re: Wrestler Death thread

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Willie Williams, a champion karate fighter who had a huge worked-shoot match with Inoki in New Japan in 1980 (which was considered his second biggest match behind the Ali debacle), died at 68.



He also had a worked-shoot with Akira Maeda



But it's believed if he was younger he would have been a big deal during the early days of UFC.

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One of the things I read said he was in the Dungeon Of Doom after DDP turned face and I have no memory of that even though I was watching all 5 WCW TV shows back then.

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