Current WWE Raw star Riddle, full real name Matthew Riddle, has filed a motion to dismiss a recent lawsuit that had been filed against him.
As per PWInsider, Riddle filed the motion to dismiss before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division on December 3.
This is in response to the lawsuit filed by Samantha Tavel, known in wrestling as Candy Cartwright, in October against Riddle, WWE, EVOLVE, and Gabe Sapolsky, seeking $10 million from each defendant.
The suit alleged that Riddle had forced her to perform oral sex on him in May 2018 on an EVOLVE talent bus in Summit, Illinois. It also alleged that Riddle had effectively prevented her from working with WWE.
Riddle’s filing states that he and Tavel entered into an extra-marital affair in April 2017 until Riddle’s wife found out at which point the filing claims he ended the extra-marital affair. It also states:
Ms. Tavel had a hard time accepting the end of the relationship, and Mr. Riddle changed his telephone number more than once to avoid her calls. Mr. Riddle had no control over any employment relationship Ms. Tavel had with Evolve or WWE.
It also states:
Mr. Riddle emphatically denies Ms. Tavel’s torrid tale. He and Ms. Tavel had a nearly three-year affair during which they engaged only in consensual sexual activity. In July 2019, Mr. Riddle ended the affair after his wife learned of the relationship. In June 2020, Ms. Tavel tweeted an accusation that he sexually assaulted her in a van while other wrestlers were asleep.
The jurisdiction was also brought up. Tavel filed the suit with Cook County Court in Illinois as that’s where the alleged incident took place. However, Riddle’s attorneys argue that Tavel has never been a resident of Illinois, and Riddle doesn’t live or own property there either, so he can’t fall under that jurisdiction anyway.
The filing also states:
Ms. Tavel pleads two specific alleged assaults – one in April 2017 and one on May 19, 2018 – but no facts that tie these alleged injuries to Illinois.
It also mentions Joseph M. Ranta, who was transporting talent in the vehicle the alleged incident took place. It includes the following claim:
Based on Mr. Ranta’s GPS and Ms. Tavel’s June 19, 2020 Twitter post, the earliest time the assault could have occurred was during the 2.5-hour drive between the Denny’s in Portage, Indiana, and Mr. Ranta’s residence in Mason, Michigan. Therefore, it is impossible to state a claim under the IGVA for violence that did not arise in Illinois between nonresidents of Illinois.
The filing also includes:
Even drawing the facts in a light most favorable to Ms. Tavel, the May 19, 2018 assault is inherently implausible and her right to relief is speculative at best. Mohammed v. Sidecar Technologies, Inc., No. 16 C 2538, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156090, at *20 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 10, 2016) (dismissing claim where court could not draw reasonable inference that defendant violated the statute based on conclusory and speculative allegations). It is implausible that Mr. Riddle would ask to engage in sexual intercourse “in front of other members of Evolve while on a bus,” immediately after performing at a wrestling event, without any witnesses in a small but full vehicle. If that did happen, no matter the size of the vehicle, surely, someone would have noticed the assault and said something. Count I does not plausibly state a claim, and it should be dismissed.
