TMZ is reporting that WWE has increased security in various ways due to Maryse Ouellet having to file a permanent restraining order against a fan who has been stalking and threatening her. They have increased the number of security guards at WWE events and will continue to do so as long as they feel there is a "legitimate threat." WWE has also "taken additional security measures" that they won't disclose so as to make sure they're effective.
It's good to see WWE being pro-active, but they utterly failed at security during a previous situation with a stalker. In Season 3 of Tough Enough, a contestant named Lisa disappeared from the show suddenly. One night, everyone but her decided to go out. She was shown making a phone call, and then it was said she quit for some reason.
What actually happened was that she had a breakdown. She was literally throwing herself at the walls of the house. She went into the control room and then somehow ended up on the roof of the house, where she threatened to jump. The MTV producers called WWE producer John Gaburik, who rushed to the house and helped talk her down. She was involuntarily committed and had to be restrained with a straightjacket for part of her hospitalization.
She was released into her parents' custody and attacked them at the airport while denying that she knew who they were, causing a wing of the airport to be shut down. She was then committed again but was able to check out voluntary when she had been deemed to no longer be a threat. According to Wade Keller's feature story about this situation at the time in the Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter, she had no history of mental illness and doctors "told MTV and WWE officials that it is relatively common for a woman in her 20s under great stress or duress to suffer such a psychotic breakdown."
She tried to get back on the show to no avail. Her housemates weren't told what happened and WWE didn't go public so as to protect her privacy. Apparently they didn't tell close to enough WWE personnel, which badly backfired.
Thanks to the poor communication, Lisa used her status as a Tough Enough contestant (as well as sometimes claiming to be an assistant to Gaburick or trainer Al Snow) to train at then-developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling and try to get access to WWE shows in various ways. This culminated in a WWE swing through California where she:
- Hung out with wrestlers after the show having convinced them she was with WWE as a Tough Enough alumnus.
- Got backstage at a house show in San Jose.
- Was able to have a chat with Vince McMahon.
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Assisted in operating the pyrotechnics for ring entrances. Really. It's a good thing nobody was hurt, regardless of her intentions, like when a pyro tech accidentally burnt The Undertaker last year.
According to Keller, "She presented herself in such a way that she didn't come across as a mark or a rookie, but instead somebody who acted like she belonged, and thus people believed her." After the disaster in California, WWE security was given a photograph of her.
Thankfully, WWE has been much more pro-active since then.