WWE is looking to move the lawsuit filed by Candy Cartwright against the company, Matt Riddle, Gabe Sapolsky, and EVOLVE from municipal to federal court.
HeelByNature obtained court documents filed on November 17 which include consent forms from Riddle, Sapolsky, and WWN owner Sal Hamaoui. The consent forms were required from all defendants in order to move the case.
On October 8, Samantha Tavel, professionally known as Candy Cartwright, filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Cook County Illinois alleging that Riddle began sexually assaulting Tavel in April 2017 in the parking lot after an EVOLVE event. The lawsuit also alleges that Riddle bragged about this to former EVOLVE owner Sapolsky and that those two entities and WWE tacitly approved of Riddle's alleged sexual violence towards Tavel.
The lawsuit also alleges that Tavel had bookings with WWE and EVOLVE on or about January 31, 2020, and that prior to that Riddle had forced her to perform sexual acts under the threat that she would lose bookings if she did not.
David Bixenspan reported that an email was sent to Tavel by NXT senior official Drake Wuertz canceling an appearance she was booked for on January 31, the same date mentioned in the lawsuit, citing issues with an NXT talent that “would not make for an ideal environment.”
According to the documents, Tavel is seeking $10 million per defendant.
On October 26, WWE was officially served a summons by Tavel’s legal counsel.
Fightful will continue to monitor the story and report any and all updates.
