Vince McMahon — the wrestling promoter who turned the WWE into an entertainment juggernaut — has been accused of trafficking and sexually abusing a former employee.

The wrestling organisation is embroiled in scandal just weeks before touring Perth and days after signing a $US200 million a year deal with Netflix.

McMahon, the WWE and one of his closest aides have been named as defendants in a civil court case moving to make a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) signed in 2022 null and void.

The 78-year-old McMahon failed to complete a $US3 million settlement to the woman, triggering the new lawsuit in the state of Connecticut.

Civil lawsuits in America cannot result in a jail sentence, but the evidence presented in court often launches new investigations and charges.

The allegations come before the Elimination Chamber Perth event on February 24, which the Western Australian government paid millions of dollars to bring to Optus Stadium, and days after a $1 billion, 10-year broadcast deal with Netflix was announced.

Knowledge of McMahon’s settlement payments became public in 2022 and led to a temporary ousting from WWE’s board before he sold a majority stake in 2023.

McMahon is still a minority shareholder of the company.

NDAs have been used by several high-profile convicted sexual abusers like Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby to silence their victims.

McMahon has been a long-term onscreen personality for the company and last appeared on television in June 2022.

Filed in court

McMahon has been accused in the filings of coercing a vulnerable woman into a sexual relationship in return for her continued employment at WWE’s corporate offices.

The woman was allegedly forced to have sex with McMahon and other employees of the WWE from 2019 until 2022.

It alleges McMahon and his chief aide John Laurenaitis, raped the woman in her workplace on several occasions and that McMahon defecated on her.

Laurinaitis, a former wrestling and on-screen talent, was also the woman’s direct manager in the WWE’s talent relations department.

The filing contains alleged text messages between McMahon and the woman where he prostitutes her to his employees.

According to the lawsuit, members of the organisation were aware of the abuse.

“Unsurprisingly, others at WWE knew what was going on,” it states.

“But instead of intervening to protect [her], WWE actively sought to conceal the wrongdoing.”

It alleges the woman was pressured to sign an NDA when Linda McMahon, a former small-business administrator in the Trump government and Vince McMahon’s wife, became aware of her.

Vince McMahon and his wife have been long-term supporters of Donald Trump, who is in the WWE Hall of Fame. Photo: Getty

McMahon temporarily stepped down from the WWE board in 2022, to be temporarily replaced by his daughter Stephanie McMahon, after the company became aware he was misappropriating company money to pay settlements.

It triggered an internal probe by the company but the court documents allege members of the committee never interviewed the woman or requested any documents, despite stating she would co-operate.

McMahon responds

A spokesperson for McMahon denied all allegations in a statement to Deadline.

“This lawsuit is replete with lies, obscene made-up instances that never occurred, and a vindictive distortion of the truth,” the spokesperson said.

“He will vigorously defend himself.”

McMahon sold a majority share of his WWE empire to TKO — which also owns the UFC — in 2022, but remains employed by the company while possessing an estimated 12.5 per cent of the company’s shares.

“Mr McMahon does not control TKO nor does he oversee the day-to-day operations of WWE,” a spokesperson for TKO told Courthouse News.

“While this matter pre-dates our TKO executive team’s tenure at the company, we take [the] horrific allegations very seriously and are addressing this matter internally.”

The onscreen production of the two weekly WWE television shows is currently run by McMahon’s son-in-law, Paul Levesque.

Levesque is a former wrestler who appears on-screen during WWE television shows under the Triple H moniker.

He replaced McMahon as the head of WWE’s creative permanently during the sale to TKO, but the pair appeared publicly together last week at the New York Stock Exchange.

Vince McMahon fostered the careers of John Cena, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson (pictured middle) and Hulk Hogan. Photo: Getty

Sordid history

Wrestling has long been a form of entertainment and an industry rife with abuse, sexual assault and misconduct.

McMahon himself has been at the centre of several major controversies after he took his father’s state-based WWF wrestling company global and turned it into the WWE.

He is the most consequential figure in professional wrestling, having overseen multiple forays into pop culture and business since his purchase of the company in 1982.

He has been accused of helping former WWF superstar Jimmy Snuka cover up the death of his former girlfriend in 1983 and has been sued by the state of New York for distributing steroids to onscreen talent in 1994.

Other employees and wrestlers have spoken out in the past about the culture within the WWE, including Ashley Massaro, a former wrestler who accused the organisation and McMahon of covering up her sexual assault during a wrestling tour for the United States military in the Middle East. Massaro would later commit suicide.