www.tvsquad.com has broken the major story that World Wrestling Entertainment may have run afoul of the Securities and Exchange Commission with its misleading press release about the storyline purchase of WWE Monday Night Raw by Donald J. Trump.

 

The story states:

 

What started out as just a TV wrestling stunt could have Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment in a headlock from federal authorities.

As we reported earlier this week, the WWE's Monday Night Raw is running an angle in which Donald Trump purchased the show from McMahon. It's all a big wrestling "work" -- a story element to drive the weekly show and entertain fans.

The trouble is that both WWE and Raw's parent network (USA) sent out official press releases announcing Trump's "purchase." And, WWE publicly held shares fell nearly 7% the next day.

The releases were fiction. But, federal investigators prefer to use words like "false reporting." The Securities and Exchange Commission generally frowns on deliberately false media reports that affect the stock market. In fact, they tend to watch any major media incident that causes a stir in the markets. Ask Martha Stewart.

If any WWE shareholder who's less than thrilled with losing 6+% of his or her money so John Cena can rub elbows with Trump wants to file a complaint, McMahon and company could get pinned.

So far, the SEC opted for a "no comment" on whether it's planning to investigate the incident. Unfortunately, that could be what the wrestling biz calls a "swerve" -- get folks looking one way, and surprise them with the unexpected. The feds can take all the time in the world and make no announcement until they're ready to move. Ask Rod Blagojevich.