Vince McMahon And The Rock Among Defendants Named In New Lawsuit
Vince McMahon, The Rock, WWE, Dani Garcia, ESPN, Dick Ebersol, Frank Riddick, and Carol Riddick have all been named as defendants in a lawsuit.
Reports from PWInsider indicate that on July 20, 2022, David Adrian Smith took legal action against the XFL in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
Related: Linda McMahon Comments On Vince McMahon Situation
An email sent by Smith to Carol Riddick - the wife of WWE CFO Frank Riddick - on May 10, 2016, is claimed to have "disclosed confidential trade secret information," including "market analysis, opportunity analysis, strategic analysis, and other business information regarding a concept for a minor league or developmental league spring football league," according to the complaint.
Smith claims he wrote in the email, "Please feel free to share with Mr. Riddick but ya'll keep it under your hats until we have a chance to discuss how to proceed or that it has not merit."
A series of emails between Smith and Carol Riddick are also referenced in the lawsuit, with Riddick asking "several rounds of questions" and Smith responding with additional trade secret information.
Smith claims that the Riddicks shared his private information and trade secrets with another defendant, Scott Jackson, without his permission.
According to the complaint, Vince McMahon forwarded the emails containing the sensitive information and trade secrets to former NBC executive Dick Ebersol and his son Charlie, as well as ESPN. ESPN later used the information in their 30 For 30 documentary titled "This Was the XFL," which aired in 2017, roughly a year after the emails were sent.
Smith continued by saying that "since WWE sold the rights and trademarks of the original XFL over to McMahon's Alpha Entertainment, it was due to members of the WWE Board (McMahon and Riddick) being involved as they knew of Smith's 'trade secrets.'"
The AAF, he said, was founded by Ebersol in part because of the insider information he had obtained.
So How Is The Rock Involved?
Smith claims that the trade secrets were "disclosed/conveyed to and acquired/received" by the new owners of the XFL without his permission after Alpha Entertainment declared bankruptcy and the XFL was purchased by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Dani Garcia, and their business partners.
Although Smith stated that he "at this time refuses to disclose the evidence of communications," the lawsuit includes "89 counts of misappropriation of trade secrets, 115 counts of Theft of Trade secrets and 134 counts of RICO violations."
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