Vince McMahon is no longer with WWE, after he resigned due to an earth-shattering lawsuit from Janel Grant. She is not the only victim of McMahon’s as her attorney admitted that they are overwhelmed by the response from people wanting to tell their own stories. Grant’s name is also not the only one that the public knows, because in the mid-80s, Vince McMahon allegedly raped WWE referee Rita Chatterton.
Rita Chatterton’s Time in WWE
Rita Chatterton alleged that Vince McMahon sexually assaulted her in his limousine in July 1986. She left WWE that same year under conflicting stories, as WWE’s attorney at the time asserted that she was “fired for cause.”
Her name has come up a lot more in recent memory, due to the hush money scandal that is still unfolding for Vince McMahon. During a 2022 interview with the Cheap Heat Podcast, Chatterton spoke about the toxic atmosphere that awaited her in WWE. This all started for her when Vince McMahon called after she was recommended by Blackjack Mulligan.
“I said, ‘hello’ and the man’s voice said, ‘is Rita Marie there?’ and the only people who called me that were from wrestling, and I said, ‘this is her,’ and he said, ‘this is Vince McMahon.” I was like, wow, here’s the man I’ve been calling for months, and he’s finally calling me. He said that ‘I understand you spoke to George, and he and Blackjack Mulligan were pretty impressed, and we wanna get some TV on you, can you be at Madison Square Garden in like two days?’ I was like, yeah, I’ll be there.” “Going from nowhere to Madison Square Garden, that’s huge.”
Chatterton was 27-years-old when she signed on with WWE. At her first gig with WWE, Pat Patterson allegedly didn’t believe she was a referee. When she showed Patterson her referee license, he was apparently fuming. She claims that Patterson went back screaming, “Who the f*ck would give a female a referee license.”
Later on, she said that Chief Jay Strongbow asked to see her license, just so he could look it over, before leaving with his head shaking in disapproval. Strongbow apparently raised a fuss over Chatterton as a referee.
Rita Chatterton Details Sexist WWE Culture
After the athletic commissioner showed up, the discussion was started once again. Then, she claimed that Pat Patterson offered her money for the night, but she wouldn’t be a referee on the show.
“They walk over to me, and Pat Patterson has a fistful of money. He said, ‘here, take this.’ I said, ‘what’s that?’ He said, ‘you’re getting paid for tonight, but you’re not refereeing anything. I said, ‘oh yes I am.’ I said, ‘Look, if I’m not refereeing, I will sue you personally, and I will sue you, and I will sue you, and I will sue you,’ I’m going around pointing at everyone. ‘And I will sue WWE because I’m a good referee and I worked hard to get here, and I’m doing it.’ And then they storm away.”
Chatterton also discovered, a short time later, that Pat Patterson offered money to the female wrestlers in her first WWE match to break her legs. Of course, they didn’t, but that is how volatile and toxic it apparently was.
“I ended up doing my very first match, a women’s tag team match, and I found out a few months later that Pat Patterson told the women to break my legs and make sure I never wanted to get in the ring again.”
“Luckily, being women, instead of doing anything to hurt me, they helped me, and that’s how I got started,” Chatterton said. “It was a crazy world and things were so much different back then, but luckily the women knew that you had to work 10 times as hard for a quarter of the recognition that the men got at the time.”
Chatterton On WWE Talent’s Rock Star Lifestyle
Chatterton said that “they wouldn’t think about saying that” to her today, telling her that she’s not on a show just because she’s a woman. The culture has certainly shifted when it comes to public consciousness, but other aspects of WWE sadly remained until just recently when Vince McMahon officially resigned.
She spoke about the rock star lifestyle that “they all” lived back then, when talking about the talent. Rita Chatterton also did what she could to stay away from that to the best of her ability.
“They all lived like rock stars. They had, what they called arena rats backstage trying to meet the guys. So, it was always ‘stay away,’ and I didn’t have a problem with that. I was engaged. I had a very happy home life. I didn’t have a problem with that. So yeah, you know, it had its moments where things got pretty crazy.”
Rita Chatterton After WWE
In 1992, Geraldo Rivera’s producers approached Rita Chatterton about the alleged rape by Vince McMahon. She shared her story on Rivera’s shows, but the allegations received limited coverage due to other WWF scandals. McMahon and his wife sued Chatterton, but they dropped the case after his steroid case indictment. You may watch Chatterton’s Geraldo appearance below.
In June 2022, Chatterton’s story resurfaced during a New York Magazine profile. McMahon faced new misconduct allegations, leading Chatterton to speak out once again. In December, Chatterton sued McMahon, settling later to avoid litigation costs. Reports suggest McMahon agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement.
SE Scoops will have ongoing coverage of Vince McMahon’s allegations as more information comes to light. More names could come forward, and a federal investigation on his actions also raises a lot of questions about what is next.