Former WWE Star Paul Roma Alludes To More Severe Allegations Against Company Executives
The last several years have seen various allegations against Vince McMahon and WWE come to light, with the former CEO accused of a wide range of sexual misconduct. Last month, former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a civil lawsuit against the company, McMahon, and former executive John Laurinaitis that features allegations of sex trafficking and rape. According to former WWE performer Paul Roma while speaking to NewsNation, there are even more insidious stories that haven't yet been told publicly.
Roma declined to go into specifics of one specific story that Roma agreed was "even worse" than the Grant allegations but stated that he and fellow WWE alum Mario Mancini had recently spoken about the matter. Both men were surprised the story hadn't been made public yet but also understood why someone might be reluctant to dredge up old wounds on such an open stage. Additionally, when asked if the recent allegations against McMahon sounded like the version of McMahon that he knew, Roma confirmed that it did.
"It was pretty regular," Roma said, referring to tales of McMahon's inappropriate actions. "You heard it on a regular basis, for the most part. Then you wouldn't hear it for a while, then it would come full circle."
In addition to allegations involving McMahon himself, Roma stated that other WWE executives leveraged the careers of performers in exchange for sex. If Roma's allegations are true, it's a pattern of behavior that is also reflected in Grant's lawsuit. The former WWE star recalled some former professional wrestlers who quit the business rather than give in to the demands of company executives.
Paul Roma Goes On The Record About The Young Stallions
Roma regularly performed in WWE (then known as the WWF) from 1984 to 1991. Through part of that time, Roma was in a tag team called the Young Stallions with a wrestler named Jim Powers, whom Roma now says was propositioned by someone in the company.
"He said he went to one of the agents and told them what had happened," Roma stated. "And I said, 'Why would you do that? You just ratted on both of us.' So he kind of threw us both under the bus just starting out."
Powers shared what had happened with a WWE producer Roma refers to as "Arnold," with Roma making it clear he thought that would be the end of their push as a tag team, under the assumption that the producer would go back and tell the executives that Powers had said something. Roma did not elaborate on when this incident occurred or whether it had any effect on how the team was presented after that.
The retired wrestler was also asked to clarify whether or not he was certain that the ones attempting to proposition performers were executives within WWE. According to Roma, the people in positions of power within the company are the only ones who could have the leverage to make the types of threats that were being made.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit NewsNation with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.