Samantha Tavel, the indie wrestler who uses the name Candi Cartwright and who accused Matt Riddle of sexually abusing her, has filed a $10 million lawsuit against Riddle, WWE, and Gabe Sapolsky who co-founded EVOLVE.
Tavel and her attorney held a press conference at the Union League Club in Chicago, Illinois to announce the lawsuit which was filed in the Cook County Circuit Court. The lawsuit alleges that Riddle committed a series of assaults against Tavel that began in 2017 and lasted through January 2020.
She recounted her experience during the #SpeakingOut movement a few months ago and Riddle always denied the allegations although he admitted cheating on his wife with her. Last month, Riddle filed a civil suit against Tavel.
Attorney John Chwarzynski will give a copy of the lawsuit to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office and the Summit Police Department in hopes of an investigation against Matt Riddle.
“The WWE has painted a picture over the course of the years that female performers are to comply with certain rules,” Chwarzynski said. “The WWE, since its inception, has hyper-sexualized female performers and they’ve profited from male aggression against these female performers.”
The Chicago Sun Times, which covered the press conference, said that they reached out to WWE to get comments on the lawsuit but a WWE spokesman said that they had not been served yet and when they will, the company will will vigorously defend themselves and contest it.
