Attorneys for WWE and TKO want the ongoing sexual abuse lawsuit brought by former “ring boys” put on pause until the Maryland Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the Maryland Child Victims Act, according to court filings submitted on Monday.
“If the [Child Victims Act] is found to be unconstitutional, the claims here cannot go forward,” WWE’s attorneys wrote in the new filings. “Given that circumstance, it is appropriate and even necessary to stay this matter until the Supreme Court of Maryland decides that fundamental and potentially case determinative issue.”
The defendants pointed to a number of other cases that have been stayed, awaiting a decision from Maryland’s highest court.
Five former ring boys, anonymized as John Doe 1 through 5, allege they were sexually abused during their childhood by former WWF ring announcer Mel Phillips when they helped assemble rings for the wrestling company in the 1980s.
The new Maryland law removes the statute of limitations, allowing victims to sue non-perpetrator defendants whose negligence may have led to child sex abuse. Vince McMahon and Linda McMahon, who were the leading executives of WWE at the time are also named defendants in the case. Phillips died in 2012.
In addition to requesting the stay, representatives for WWE and its TKO parent from the Paul Weiss firm also filed to remove the case from the state level, in the Baltimore County Circuit Court, where it was filed by the plaintiffs in late October, to federal court in Maryland. They argue that federal jurisdiction is established due to the diversity of state citizenship of the parties and the amount of damages the plaintiffs are seeking.
Attorneys for both McMahons submitted separate filings stating that they consent to WWE’s effort to move the case to federal court.
Vince McMahon is represented in the case by Jessica T. Rosenberg, who is also defending him in Janel Grant’s sex trafficking case filed against him, WWE, and John Laurinaitis.
Laura Brevetti, a former General Counsel for WWE from 2013 to 2015, is representing Linda McMahon. Brevetti last month said the ring boys’ lawsuit is “based upon thirty-plus-year-old allegations” and is “filled with scurrilous lies, exaggerations, and misrepresentations.”
The Maryland Supreme Court is currently considering the constitutionality of the Child Victims Act in a consolidated case. WWE’s filings noted that a decision from the high court’s seven justices is expected by August 31, 2025. Oral arguments were heard in September.
Because WWE wants to put the case on hold, they’ve also asked the federal court to postpone their December 9 deadline to respond to the ring boys’ complaint. WWE’s lawyers state they contacted the plaintiffs’ attorneys to agree on delaying the deadline but were denied.
“On November 26, 2024, counsel for Defendants spoke by e-mail with counsel for Plaintiffs and sought Plaintiffs consent to the relief sought herein,” WWE’s attorneys wrote to the court. “Plaintiffs advised that they do not consent to this request.”
WWE is also asking the court to shorten the plaintiffs’ deadline to oppose their request for more time, setting it for this Thursday, December 5.
Judge James K. Bredar is assigned to the federal case and will rule on the defendants’ motions.
Representatives for all parties in the lawsuit were contacted by email on Tuesday afternoon to provide comments for this story, and we’ll update this article if they respond.
After the lawsuit was filed in October, Rosenberg, on behalf of Vince McMahon, dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims as “the same absurd, defamatory, and utterly meritless statements” previously raised in 1992 by New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick. “We will vigorously defend Mr. McMahon and are confident the court will find these claims to be untrue and unfounded,” Rosenberg stated.
Greg Gutzler, attorney for the five John Doe plaintiffs, discussed the ring boy lawsuit with John Pollock and Brandon Thurston in October.
