WARNING: This article contains descriptions of sexual assault
Cara Pipia, who was best friends with Ashley Massaro, appeared on News Nation and corroborated Massaro’s allegations of being sexually assaulted in 2006.
Pipia was interviewed by Ashleigh Banfield recounted Massaro’s state after returning from a WWE goodwill tour of the Middle East in 2006. Pipia shared that Massaro spent eight hours crying on her lap, sharing the details of what occurred.
Massaro provided an affidavit for lawyers Konstantine Kyros and Erica Mirabella in a lawsuit filed against WWE, which was dismissed in 2018.
In the affidavit, Massaro shared details of being raped and sodomized by an unknown individual, who Massaro described as an Army doctor but may have been part of the Navy. This occurred while Massaro was being treated for dehydration on the tour and stated that the man in question administered her with an IV and rendered her helpless.
When I arrived at the sickbay, an IV was placed in my arm almost immediately. After sitting with the IV in my arm for what felt like hours, Jimmy Hart came to check up on me and make sure I was ok. I told him I was fine but that they wouldn’t let me leave because they said I had to wait to see a doctor. Jimmy said he and the rest of the group were going to get lunch and left.
Another couple of hours went by and then a man appeared in the sickbay, dressed in an orange t-shirt and cargo shorts, and I had heard others comment that it was his birthday. He represented himself as a US Army doctor but I observed that all the other doctors at the facility had been wearing scrubs so I do not know whether this was true. He was with a woman who was dressed in full military fatigues.
While I was still in the sickbay, he approached me and almost immediately administered an IV of an unknown substance in my other arm. Almost immediately after, the alleged doctor and the woman in fatigues moved me into a room that did not appear to be a treatment room and placed me on a table. The woman guarded the door while the man proceeded to inject me with a drug that caused me to be unable to move my body or to scream. The man then proceeded to violently rape and sodomize me. I was completely helpless to defend myself against this attack as the drug he injected rendered me temporarily paralyzed. Despite being unable to control my movements, I remained fully conscious for every second of the attack. I felt excruciating pain as a result of this man penetrating me by force and against my will, in a violent and aggressive manner, while I was completely defenseless. Each second that went by was excruciating and I have never felt more helpless or been more terrified in my entire life.
The experience was a living nightmare. I don’t know exactly how long this went on for but if felt like an eternity. The suffering I endured far surpassed all the injuries I had ever suffered in the ring put together; I was experiencing not only severe physical pain but severe emotional and psychological trauma. I have always considered myself to be a fighter and survivor so I can’t even find the words to describe what it felt like to be thrown on a table and stripped and then brutalized in the worst possible way that one human being is capable of brutalizing another – all while being unable to move or speak.
In addition to the pain and terror, I felt almost dehumanized, and was extremely disturbed by the feeling that I was somehow given to this man as some type of sick birthday present, and it also made me sick that the female soldier willingly guarded the door for him while he raped me without blinking an eye.
Pipia described there being multiple people who assaulted Massaro. She added that an unnamed WWE executive wrapped Massaro in a blanket after the assault and removed her from the room.
In the affidavit, Massaro stated she informed the others on tour – Ron Simmons, Jimmy Hart, and Maria Kanellis but insisted they not share her story with anyone. WWE doctor Ferdinand Rios approached Massaro to speak about the incident, and Massaro was unaware of how he found out. Dr. Rios has stated that when he spoke with John Laurinaitis, he was aware of the incident.
Pipia corroborated that everyone knew “all the way to the top” including Vince and Stephanie McMahon.
In 2019, WWE issued a statement denying any knowledge of the sexual assault.
At no time was Vince McMahon or the management of WWE ever informed by Ashley Massaro or anybody else that she had been sexually assaulted, drugged, raped or sodomized by a military doctor with a nurse standing guard while on a goodwill tour in 2007 to U.S. military bases in Kuwait. In fact, if she ever articulated such a claim to WWE, we would have reported it immediately to the Base Commander.
At no time was there ever a meeting with Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn, John Laurinaitis or other company executives in which she told them of such a claim and was instructed to keep it quiet.
This was contradicted by Laurinaitis’ lawyer Edward Brennan, who recently spoke with VICE News stating his client was aware of the situation but denied that there was a “cover-up”.
Any allegations that Mr. Laurinaitus helped to cover up an alleged rape allegation is an outright lie. Johnny, like most upper level management at sometime became aware of the allegations and ensured all proper WWE protocols were followed, including privacy for the alleged victim. We object to the use of the term cover up as no such plan or plot ever took place to hide or assist in the alleged rape
When asked by Banfield if this was a cause of Massaro’s suicide in 2019, Pipia said she was “99 percent” sure it was.
Massaro took her life in May 2019 at the age of 39.
