Ashley Massaro Claims She Was Sexually Assaulted During WWE Trip To Military Base

The Boston Globe reports that Ashley Massaro has joined the class action lawsuit against WWE. She claims in her filing that while in Kuwait in 2006 to visit American troops on behalf of the company, she was sexually assaulted at a US military base. She said she was examined by a WWE doctor when she returned. The doctor reported the incident, who spoke with her to “apologize for their negligence, but [they] persuaded her that it would be best not to report it to appropriate authorities.’’ It’s one of several health and safety complaints she made against the company on November 9.

Massaro was in WWE from 2005 to 2008, with no prior in-ring experience. She said she also had several concussions, including one that left her unconscious for five minutes in the ring. She claims she wasn’t given medical treatment and was told to “shake it off.” She said she’s had “debilitating behavioral changes” since then, including a drug addiction that WWE helped her with in 2010. She claims she has depression, anxiety, memory loss and migraine headaches, all symptoms of CTE. However, CTE can only be diagnosed through an autopsy.

Along with head injuries, she also said she had a hairline fracture of her spine, two herniated discs and an ankle fracture which required a five-inch metal plate. She also claims that Vince McMahon once ordered a crew to cut off a cast on her hand (for a shattered knuckle) weeks before it was supposed to come off so she could compete for that night’s event. She added that since WWE claims its performers are independent contractors, when you sign with the company you “sign your life away.”

Along with Massaro, seven other former wrestlers have joined the 52 who are suing WWE. They claim that WWE hid the danger of repeat head injuries which caused them to have neurological problems.

The family of Jon “Balls Mahoney” Rechner have also joined. Rechner died in April of a heart attack at the age of 44. It was discovered in a postmortem examination that he had CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), a degenerative disease caused by head injuries. He was the third wrestler to be diagnosed with CTE.

This comes after news that a judge in Connecticut dismissed wrongful death lawsuits from the families of Matt “Doink the Clown” Osbourne and Nelson “Big Daddy V” Frazier, Jr. Judge Vanessa Bryant said the families failed to show their deaths were linked to CTE. She previously dismissed similar claims against the company.

Perry Saturn (real name Perry Satullo) also joined the case. He developed a drug addiction in his thirties and was homeless for several years. He’s now fifty and claims he has several symptoms of brain injuries and is getting neurological care.

WWE has yet to lose a case involving alleged head injuries from a wrestler at this point. In a related case, the NFL ended up reaching a $1 billion settlement with former players who may have had brain damage. A case against the NHL is currently pending.

WWE lawyer Jerry McDevitt did not comment, but cited the recently dismissed cases against the company and the WWE’s motion for sanctions against lawyer Konstantine Kyros.