Unless you have been living under a rock the past few days, you should be fully aware of WWE star Paige falling victim to a recent wave of celebrity targeted phone hackers. Dozens of pictures and videos of Paige in sexual situations were released to the internet without the consent of the former WWE Divas Champion. Although the initial thread that housed the explicit images was flagged immediately, the photos spread online like wild fire, and will likely be floating around forever.
Interestingly enough it wasn't only Paige who was featured in the photos/videos, but also former WWE star Brad Maddox and current WWE star Xavier Woods. While Paige has confirmed that it is her in the leaked media, neither Woods or Maddox have released statements on the matter yet. As of now, the common belief is that Maddox is the person who was hacked, and his phone still had videos that were taken during his relationship with Paige.
An incident like this is disgusting and a violation of privacy and the people who are truly responsible will probably never be found. The leaks are bad enough, but the sad part is that this is probably just the beginning of possible repercussions that will take effect due to the scandal. Today I will examine 15 possible scenarios moving forward that could happen as of a result of the Paige leaks.
15 15. The Rock’s Movie About Paige Will Be Canceled
It’s no secret that The Rock and his production studio has been filming a movie based on the life of Paige over the past few months. Rock even came out after a recent WWE show to film a scene that will be featured during the climax of the movie (no pun intended). While Rocky’s studio is funding and producing the project, Paige is an intellectual property of the WWE and because of that they must have some say in the creative direction of the film. With all of the negativity surrounding Paige at the moment, someone is going to have to make the call on whether or not to continue the production of the biopic. And if they do continue making the movie, how could they not include a scandal like this one in it? I mean Paige, Xavier Woods, and Brad Maddox have been trending for nearly three days straight.
14 14. Xavier Woods Will Be Fired or Demoted
Out of the three parties involved in this whole leaked photos/videos buisness, only one of them is an actual active performer for the WWE; Xavier Woods. It’s hard to believe that the WWE would actually fire a guy who is one of their top merch sellers, as well as a major force for their YouTube community. On the other hand however, WWE has to deliver some sort of justice on someone, and given that Paige is still off television with an apparent injury who else could possibly get punished? The real culprit in this entire scandal is Brad Maddox, and that guy was fired two years ago, so where else can WWE possibly deal out punishment to besides Woods? Maybe Vince McMahon just puts a very short leash on The New Day, and bury them into next week for the next few months.
13 13. Hulk Hogan Will Not Be Brought Back
Less than a month away from ‘Mania, there have been a slew of rumors floating around about Hulk Hogan making a return to the WWE. If the rumors are true, then the WWE probably figured that enough time has passed for the general public to forget why he was deleted from the WWE less than two years ago. With multiple sex tapes being involved in the current Paige scandal, Vince McMahon would be nuts to reintroduce a wrestler who was fired over his own lewd video being leaked. Maybe it’s not great for network subscriptions, but bringing in Hogan at this point would be a double-edged sword for the company, especially if the WWE plans on punishing any of their employees featured in the leaks.
12 12. Nothing
This is the most boring, but the most logical entry on this list. With WrestleMania around the corner, and the company doing better than it has in nearly a decade, the WWE may just choose to ignore this entire scandal and sweep it under the rug. In the end, each person involved was a consenting adult who didn’t ask for these pictures and videos to be released. In fact, when you think about this situation logically, everyone involved is simply a victim of a rogue hacker who invaded someone’s privacy. Much like the Seth Rollins leak from a few years back, WWE could simply issue a statement and keep the program moving. Although those lewd photos of Rollins featured him alone and no sexual activity, whereas this situation features x-rated content starring an active WWE Superstar.
11 11. Paige Will Be Offered An 'Adult' Deal
This seems like the biggest no-brainer on this list, but it’s obvious that Paige is going to be offered a deal from Vivid Entertainment. The adult entertainment company has capitalized on almost every single significant female leak, offering six-figure deals to lesser known celebrities than Paige. Even a 20 years past her prime Sunny made over $100,000 for her film Sunny Side Up in 2016, so could you imagine how much Vivid might offer Paige?
Now this entry isn’t suggesting that Paige will even entertain the idea, but there is no doubt in my mind that if she is released from her WWE contract she will be offered a contract for some sort of adult film company. Maybe her movie could be called Two Wrestlers on the Same Paige.
10 10. The NXT Women’s Title Will Be Retired
Of all the photos released, the one that has gotten the most buzz online is the one featuring Paige holding the NXT Women’s Title by her face. I won’t go into more detail about the picture, except to say that both Paige and the title were not left in a PG state. With that being said the WWE can’t take kindly to one if their biggest championships being disrespected the way that it was, especially with their current push for the women’s division to be taken seriously. Ironically, Paige was a key figure in the company shifting to a commitment to the women's division. So that is why more than anything else on this list, I fully expect the current NXT Women’s Title to retired in favor of a new belt that hasn’t been desecrated for the world to see.
9 9. Brad Maddox Will Likely Be Blackballed By The WWE
In defense of Brad Maddox, he may not have been holding on to these explicit pictures of Paige for years after their break up. It’s a pretty well known fact that media can stay in a user’s cloud despite being deleted on their physical device months earlier. For all we know, Maddox could have deleted all of this stuff years ago only to have it resurface now… then again he is a guy, and guys have been known to hold onto that kind of stuff. In either case it is likely that Maddox will never disappear from the WWE’s alumni page of their website.
The former RAW GM wasn’t nearly impactful enough on the industry to warrant a return to the WWE given his blatant disrespect to their property. In case you can’t read between the lines here, he is the one that besmirched the NXT Women’s Title, and that is something that WWE probably can’t forgive.
8 8. More Leaks Will Happen From Paige
The initial hack of Brad Maddox’s phone saw an obscene amount of pictures get released featuring Paige. The former WWE Divas Champion released a statement about her personal photographs being distributed without her permission, only to see it happen again within 48 hours. This time more videos were released, and tons of screenshots. At this point in the game, the original 4Chan thread that hosted these leaks has been taken down, but there were threats to release even more x-rated content in the days to come.
Only time will tell if the hackers will actually follow through with this, but if history has taught us anything it’s that once this kind of stuff starts it’s hard to get it to stop. It's a damn shame that Paige has to go through this.
7 7. The New Day Won’t Be Hosting WrestleMania
Even though Kofi Kingston and Big E don’t have anything to do with the digital shenanigans going on with this scandal, there is a big chance that The New Day is pulled from their WrestleMania hosting duties. Two weeks away from the big show, it’s hard to say if we'll ever know the full plans for the group, but needless to say the WWE will have to make some adjustments in the wake of this scandal. We don’t know for sure whether or not the crowd will try to hijack their talking segments, but there is a good chance that WWE will not take the risk. Even if the crowd doesn’t turn on the former WWE Tag Team Champions, the WWE might not want to let Big E take control of a live microphone following this disaster.
6 6. Personal Life Drama
The working theory is that most of the pictures and videos featuring Paige and others are from 2013, a full year before many of the players involved were moved up to the main roster. But even though Maddox and Paige were a couple a the time of the filming, and Xavier Woods was single, all three are going to feel the effect of these leaks in their personal lives. Woods certainly may have some explaining to do to his wife, who he met shortly after the video was filmed. Paige on the other hand will certainly have a strained relationship with Alberto Del Rio, and this entire ordeal could lead to the destruction of their relationship. Maddox might actually get off the easiest (no pun intended), but even he has deleted all of his personal social media channels due to the online harassment.
5 5. Paige Will Never Return To The WWE
Let me preface this by saying that PAIGE IS THE VICTIM HERE. Okay, now on to the prediction. I don’t see Paige ever coming back to the WWE following this incident. Even if we hopped into our time machine two weeks, the WWE had plenty of reasons to fire the former Divas Champion. She has publicly come out against the WWE’s drug testing, and has shown up multiple times on camera at rival promotions with her fiance Alberto Del Rio. All that aside, Paige has been out due to injury since forever, and at this point she has to be considered more trouble than she is worth before even considering the entire leaked pictures scandal. It would be crass for the WWE to terminate her so close to the scandal, but don’t be surprised if Paige is a member of the annual post-WrestleMania cuts.
4 4. WWE Will Be Skewered If They Only Punish Paige
If the WWE only punishes Paige and not Xaver Woods in this situation, the company will be labeled as sexist, and will likely endure a pretty intense backlash from the media. The wrestling business is already filled with a bunch of double standards, and the punishment of a victim would be the icing on the cake for women’s rights groups. Even if the WWE waits to discipline Paige, the act will no doubt make headlines making the WWE look like villains. Conversely, if the WWE punishes all parties involved, it would be an open acknowledgment of the incident happening due to Woods being so prominent on WWE programming. It really is a double-edged sword for the WWE who have legitimately established themselves as a company that values the effort of their female workers.
3 3. Alberto Del Rio Will Likely Fight A Fan
First off, if you have a problem with me calling Alberto El Patrón by his WWE gimmick Alberto Del Rio then you obviously care way too much. You know who else cares too much? Alberto Del Rio, especially when it comes to his fiancee Paige. The fiery former WWE Champion has been known to get into a few scuffles outside of the ring, and you’d better believe that it’s going to happen again. With Del Rio currently cruising the independent scene, it’s only a matter of time before a drunk fan makes an off-color comment about Paige’s pictures. Whenever that happens, let us pray for the poor soul who makes that mistake. You have to figure that ADR has to be upset that his future wife’s goodies are out there for everyone to see, and since he can’t take it out on the hacker, a drunk fan may be the next best thing.
2 2. The RAW After WrestleMania Will Be Chant Heavy...and Censored
Hey WWE you think CM Punk chants are bad, well get ready for Monday Night RAW on April 3rd, because it’s gonna be a doozy. The RAW after WrestleMania is notorious for being the rowdiest crowd of the year, with only the most hardcore fans attending the show. If you think that a crowd full of drunk smarks aren’t going to chant about Paige/Xavier Woods, well then you don’t know wrestling. The New Day in particular, may fall victim to the crowd perverting their “New Day Rocks/Sucks” chant. I won’t fill in the blanks for you, but I’m pretty sure you can figure out what is going to happen there. The WWE may be stupid when it comes to booking, but they know how to run a production and there is no way they are going to let thousands of fans yell obscene phrases during a live broadcast.
1 1. Other Women In The WWE Are At Risk
In no way am I advocating the hacking of anyone’s private information, but it’s pretty safe to say that this entire leaking situation has lit the IWC on fire. After the initial Paige leaks, hackers posted photos of former WWE star Kailyn, an alleged video featuring Summer Rae, and even more photos and videos of Paige. Sadly the privacy of these women is an afterthought to the people doing this, and many speculate that there are more leaked photos to come. In 2014 an extraordinary amount of photos of celebrities were leaked, and in that bunch were a few wrestlers including Melina and Velvet Sky. Now that we are experiencing the “2.0” wave of leaks, it’s not clear if the women of WWE are targets or just by-products of mass hacking.