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Former WWE NIL talent AJ Ferrari is currently being sought by Nebraska authorities on felony charges of false imprisonment and assault by strangling a pregnant woman, KETV, the local ABC affiliate is reporting.
According to an arrest affidavit, prosecutors allege that AJ Ferrari assaulted a woman during an argument at an apartment in Lincoln in May after the woman's mother alerted police that her daughter was asking for help. The affidavit claims Ferrari dragged the woman off a bed, strangled her, pinned her down until she apologized after she tried to contact her mother, and prevented her from leaving by dragging her back into the apartment and taking her phone to end a call with her mother. The woman was later taken to a hospital, where prosecutors say medical staff documented injuries consistent with strangulation.
Back in June, the Nebraska State Patrol arrested Ferrari on multiple charges, including flight to avoid arrest and willful reckless driving. Reports indicate that Ferrari ran from a traffic stop, leading to him having to be chased down and taken into custody.
Back in 2023, charged against Ferrari were dropped in Payne County District Court in Oklahoma after a 15-month investigation. Ferrari was dropped by Oklahoma State University's wrestling team after they became aware of a sexual assault investigation against him. In August 2022, Ferrari was arrested and charged with one felony count of sexual battery stemming from a 7/2/22 incident at the home of a Stillwater female who accused him of performing unwanted sexual acts.
District Attorney Laura Austin Thomas filed the motion to end the case, noting, “The young woman who is at the center of this matter has endured in the last year vicious attacks on multiple forms of social media, continuing trauma, blame, harassment, ostracism and indirect threats to her career. She has made the very difficult decision after consultation with her family that her further involvement is much less important than her health, a career that she loves and the ugliness and hatred that she encounters and suffers each time this matter progresses into the next step.”
Ferrari's attorney Derek Chance denied that his client was involved in harassing the victim, responding, "While we were ready and willing to try this case, which would have ultimately proven A.J.’s innocence, we appreciate the District Attorney’s decision to dismiss this case."
Ferrarri was seriously injured last January 2021 in a car wreck in Oklahoma. At the time, ESPN's report notes:
According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Ferrari was driving his 2019 Dodge Durango with Rodriguez as his passenger on Highway 33 near Perkins, Oklahoma, at about 8 p.m., when he "attempted to pass 3 vehicles while cresting a hill." Ferrari's SUV hit an oncoming driver, then left the roadway to the left and overturned several times before coming to rest in a ditch. The cause of the collision was listed as "passing in a no-passing zone."
Ferrari, 22 at the time, was signed in December 2020 to WWE's first ever NIL (Name, Image & Likeness) program, providing "a clear pathway from collegiate athletics to WWE." At the time, he was one of the biggest names in college wrestling. He is obviously no longer connected to WWE contractually.
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