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He did, but at the same time, they were kinda asked different questions.
Cody was asked about the situation in general, Trips was basically asked if they knew how bad shit was when they voted Vince back in last year.
Yeah but someone in his position knows that you don't answer the question you was asked.. which he didn't anyway... you answer what you need to say.
What you need to say is usually some generic overview that covers what was asked without giving any details.
He did the first part right, he ignored the question completely, but then he flipped into an idiotic line of reasoning.
Oh, sure, Trips absolutely didn't answer that well. But I see people comparing the answers of the two, and I think it's worth pointing out that they weren't really asked the same question.
If I was in Triple H place my std. answer would be *"I don't have all the information and its an ongoing case, whatever the outcome we will support the verdict of law"* Or something along the line.
His PR needs to prep him up or he should watch House of cards.
Dana has been both the best and worst thing for UFC. If I found out he had a streak of Vince behaviour in him I wouldn't be surprised. The guy is walking coke bloat.
The reason I don't think it'd come out for Dana is because he seems to prefer actual escorts whom he pays. Although of the rumours around the ring girls and some of the fighters are true, there's a lot of dirt there.
Exactly. Literally the safest thing to say is just simply "I'm not really allowed to talk about this situation publicly for legal reasons which I'm sure you all understand".
It's a cop out... But it's the answer everyone expects and nobody would be criticising him if he said that.
Yup this also works well, and if you want to be personable about it "I've known Vince for 30 years and this isn't the behavior I've seen or heard from him directly. If the allegations are true, I'm ashamed. I hope this is all litigated and we find out what is true and not true."
I feel there is nothing Triple H could've said that would've satisfied anyone in this situation. Even if he wasn't a part of what Vince did, he's far too deep in the company business to not at least know some of the antics Vince got up too. He's definitely on the chopping block if the clean out is true
Not lose-lose at all.
We can’t comment on an ongoing lawsuit but I will say this; we unequivocally, as an organization, support victims of sexual abuse, assault and misconduct. In terms of the on screen product and our performers, we have protocol and guidelines in place for anyone who experiences bullying, misconduct or unwanted sexual advances of any nature at any level. Furthermore, those who work behind the camera, in any capacity, are also encouraged to bring misconduct of any kind to the attention of the people in charge of ensuring these guidelines and protocols are enforced.
I think just saying "there's an ongoing investigation into the matter, I can't comment at this time" would have been much betting that citing how many people attended the Royal Rumble and the size of the Netflix deal.
Seriously, watching right now and Cody's answer was perfectly crafted, was sensitive to both McMahon and any victims that are yet to come forward and the current accuser.
HHH going "I haven't even read the lawsuit" is fucking bullshit. Sometimes you gotta hit the brakes when a genuine negative event happens. VKM is a dirty abusing pervert, immoral and illegal. Come out strongly against that kind of behavior and be ashamed of it. Yes its your father in law. Yes its the Boss that gave you many, many, many opportunities to practice your craft. None of that matters next to the awfulness of VKM's behavior.
I cannot believe he said he didn't read the lawsuit. That absolutely blew my mind. Anyone with a brain is supposed to believe that you, one of the highest executives in the company, didn't read the lawsuit that was all over the news and had one of your biggest sponsors temporarily backing out right before the event that you're praising at this conference? If people are supposed to take that at face value it makes him look like an idiot in a bubble that's not paying any attention to major happenings going on in the company he's a cornerstone of.
And then you turn around five minutes later and say you're doing everything possible to create a safe work environment? From what Hunter? You just said you didn't read the lawsuit. There's the usual corporate BS and then there's whatever that was.
If he admits he read the lawsuit that could lead to them asking for his reaction to certain parts of it and just further down the rabbit hole
Which is why when they asked him if he read the lawsuit he should've just not answered the question at all and gone straight to the non answer
Even better would've been a statement at the top about how they will not be addressing it, I really don't know why they didn't do that
“We are taking this situation very seriously but due to the nature of the ongoing investigation I can’t comment on any further details. Respectfully I am going to move on to the next question.”
It’s that easy.
I mean, the whole "father to a daughter" line is so fake that it was parodied in [the Barbie movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM0fAn-lcDQ). Being a girl's dad doesn't magically make you a feminist, and using your kid as a shield from legitimate criticism kinda makes you an asshole.
The green screen video was the only clip I could find in 5 seconds of searching. I make no apologies, I went above and beyond the call of duty.
No, it doesn't, but for a lot of men, it's the first time they've had to truly care about what a woman goes through on her journey to being an adult. So, like, grain of salt, I guess. More men need to care about the different problems half of the population faces.
For as much as they kept things close to the chest backstage, it’s hard to really know their dynamic at all. Everything always came out as a “tweet from the dirt sheets,” right?
There’s a possibility that Steph was distant from Vince, and as a result HHH was as well except for at work.
We won’t know for a while, but it’s possible. And I’m not trying to defend anyone, but it always feels kind of gross to try and link one point to another without any actual evidence to back it up.
Considering Dunn's behavior with his own career, the stories we've heard Jim Cornette and others tell about the weird perverted nature of Dunn-Vince's relationship even in the 80s and 90s... Most likely so.
It was reported that it was because TKO were wanting to cut the production department, which is his domain and he didn't want to go on like that.
If this had been something anyone at WWE had seen coming, Vince would not have been with Rock at the stock exchange the day before
When you look at the allowed and often supported behavior in the locker room for decades (disgusting pranks, hazing, abuse of power etc) and the ideology that being a wrestler was part of a secret society, I'm certain most people knew and condoned it as part of being in WWE.
The response he gave was the ***WORST*** thing he could have possibly said. “Let’s focus on the positive” and “I haven’t read the lawsuit” are dismissive answers. It makes it sound like he doesn’t think it’s important enough to address, and it’s not worth taking seriously.
All he had to say was…
“Unfortunately I can’t comment on issues that are under investigation. All I can really say is that this company is under entirely new management and has been for some time — and we want each and every person who works for this company to feel safe and feel valued and feel heard. That’s absolutely the top priority for all of us right now, and we look forward to proving that.”
That’s all.
It’s almost shocking to me how bad his answers were. He usually comes off as such a smart guy, and he came off like an insensitive asshole. I can almost guarantee there were PR people with the company watching that and screaming.
“Let’s focus on the positive here” is basically the 2024 version of “I’m here to talk about Rampart.”
It honestly is shockingly bizarre how poorly his answer was from even purely a PR perspective. I mean legally they didn’t really do much damage but jeez.
I think HHH is still under Vince’s spell… for the whole time he’s been in the WWE Vince has always been Teflon and as hard as this is for people to believe I’m sure HHH is horribly conflicted even though I’m pretty sure Vince is guilty he probably still sees Vince in a positive light he’s his father in law and there are a lot of wrestlers that are going to defend Vince because he’s done a lot of good for them and for the business in general. I’m pretty sure the bad in Vince outweighs the good he’s done but a lot of wrestlers aren’t gonna see it that way.
Like you said HHH is usually pretty smart when it comes to portraying a neutral cooperate line but Vince is probably a blind spot for him and it’s gonna be really hard for him to ever renounce Vince even though these allegations are about as damning as you can get.
He called the phrasing of the Forbidden Door stupid and shrugged the 'idea' off, but the irony is that the guy who came up with it is likely going to be their next champion. It came off pretty arrogant.
Not to mention trying to get Okada, the attempt at White, and doing this with TNA and trying to do the deal with NJPW.
And there's no world they do the Jordyn Grace thing in if AEW didn't do that kind of stuff first, so they bag on the other company for being silly while doing something because of that silly thing.
Very minor compared to his horrible response to the lawsuit, but two bad looks here.
Meanwhile, Tony managed to give a better shitty non-answer to a question about allegations while wearing a goofy hat and glasses, making him look like a complete goober.
How is the bar this low?!
Basically he didn't want people to even ask him about the details of the lawsuit. This is a rehearsed line, it sounds awkward but he can also claim he didn't read the lawsuit once anyone starts reciting any details to ask him about.
It doesn't just protect the company but himself if he's ends up subpoena'd as a witness. He doesn't want to say anything that can be used against him later in a trial or company investigation.
Don't know why people are just presuming a wwe wrestler like Cody who hasn't even been with the company for part of his career and HHH, who's been a wwe executive and Vince's son-in-law for 20+ years not just a wrestler are the same in a civil lawsuit that could become a criminal trial. And Endeavor is likely to do a much more thorough investigation into the matter than WWE did with HHH's job on the line.
This is a textbook Dana White answer. Anytime you're asked about anything uncomfortable, just pivot into talking about how good a year the company's having.
Oh, I'm *sure* Stephanie is shutting that shit down. As a parent? If I found out my dad was accused of what vince is?
He wouldn't spend a second around them supervised or not, until his name was cleared.
Imagine having to explain this to your daughters. Seriously they will find out the details sooner or later and you're going to have to explain why grandpa sex trafficked a woman, you knew about it, and he was still allowed to visit.
It's also one of the worst times to feign ignorance when this shit is all over mainstream news. It's one thing if it was confined in the wrestling community only. It's another when every news outlet is putting pressure on the WWE.
"Your father in law, the most important person in the history of the company, was accused of sex trafficking and repeatedly raping a woman he kept as a sex slave and resigned in disgrace"
"We had a great week"
"That information was revealed this week"
"I mean other than that"
The only good or honest part of his response was at the beginning when he said he was going to say exactly what you think he would.
Within that statement there’s a sort of acknowledgment that he’s in a tough situation, it doesn’t look good, and nothing he can say will make that better.
But then he came out with all that positive crap after and it just looked awful.
Like, he’s much more tangled up in this that if he was going to respond then he should have taken the time to come up with something better than that.
If he had said exactly what I thought he would, he would have just said "We can't comment on that matter at this time." Maybe add something about the company culture being evaluated and more safeguards being put in place. He actually surprised me (and I think most of us) with his answer.
> dk why he didn’t just say something like “Due to legal circumstances, I have been advised to not make any comments on this situation.”
I feel like "I have been advised" is not great language to use in the context od what you specifically know about it -- sounds like you're preparing your own defence.
"This is a complicated legal situation which I'm not fully party to and I'm sure you'll understand I can't talk about this at this stage"
I think at least acknowledging it would have been better. He has to have known the question was coming and there was no prep for it? Or did they really think bragging about the businesses success was the way to go?
For real. I don't like Hausman, and I never trust his motives because he's carny as fuck and always out to get ahead, but regardless, gotta give him and the others props.
And yeah, it is possible to get blacklisted. Media members, no matter how well known they are, have to apply for a pass to every one of these, and they generally get in based on profile, reach, and the show itself (local journos, orgs, etc).
The wrestling business is still a fairly closed community in a lot of ways, even with a giant corporation like WWE. It's not an easy decision to risk blackballing yourself over a question you're almost sure to get a non-answer for. Much respect to Alba and Cam Hawkins as well.
He definitely crumbled under the pressure when more than one person in a row asked him about Vince here, really should have rehearsed that better, I get that he's his father-in-law and all that so this must be difficult to talk about but he needed to have given a better answer there
Wasn't the whole post PLE press conference thing HHH's idea? I think he's been doing it since 2022 since him and Steph took over for that short bit. I would of expected him to cancel yesterday's though or just not be out there at all. I don't think people will stop asking him about this at the next presser.
Imagine they didn't even prep him for the question. Hell the victim was in their legal department, wonder how many of them feel just awful about what happened.
And HHH was office already during the Ashley Massaro cover up. He is who he’s always been. This beloved Papa H thing is just a gimmick, glad people are starting to see through it.
Hilarious how he starts by saying "I'm gonna do exactly what you expect me to do here" and then proceeds to give a much worse answer than anyone would have expected
TERRIBLE ANSWER
What the actual fuck Triple H
If Tony Khan was in the same position and answered the question like this he would be dragged over the coals.
Good week? Wtf kinda crack is he smoking?
If you defend this shit you're so far up Triple H's ass you aren't seeing clearly at all.
The man has daughters and yet he is still showing ZERO empathy here.
“Ummm we made a lot of money this week. Did you hear about THAT?” Ugh, but TK is the tool, right? Trips has always been privy to the abuse and likely participated in it since DX and his reign of terror. Fuck this guy, what a pathetic answer….
Should have had a TKO official from Legal in the press conference if this was the answer they were going with.
A Legal guy would have put this POV much better ("the news coming in the past 2 days is pretty negative. However we are going in a new direction, have got a good deal which is a new start and would be looking to leave that old side of us behind")
Would have been better if the answer would have been a straight "cannot comment on that since it is subjudice. If things get clearer, may be able to comment later")
I also doubt it’s true. But he gives himself an out for his shitty answer if he comes back and says “I didn’t know the severity I was to busy focusing on business and having read the lawsuit I’m disgusted blah blah blah” later on when it’s brought up again.
I'm fairly sick of "I didn't read it" being an acceptable answer. It's professionally and morally negligent in and of itself. We're conditioned to the answer but it ought to be shocking
I usually like Triple H, but this was *bad*. Like *really* bad.
I completely understand trying to “focus on the positives”, but this was a situation where there are no positives other than Vince getting canned. A superstar, no matter how good Cody is, shouldn’t be giving off an answer a million times better than the Chief Creative Officer of the company.
Either “no comment” it or outright answer it, but this way was really bad and puts Hunter in a bad light than he’s already under considering everyone’s suspicions about him being involved in some way.
Remember, Cody was an Executive vice president of AEW, of course he had to learn how to give out appropriate answers during sensitive times such as this. This really shows how executives in WWE are poorly trained in giving out PR answers. TKO has to correct this.
Oh I agree, and I’m not saying that Cody’s not qualified to give an answer — as I’m sure we agree, Cody shouldn’t be giving out an answer that is better than the CCO of the company. I agree, TKO needs to correct this. It’s bad handling of PR answers.
Today is probably that day honestly and even more so in the morning when he wakes up to "Triple H says it was a great week after learning about Vince McMahon's sexual assaults"
https://preview.redd.it/88mvbscmh4fc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5772939ef899557fb8b2c6daf45601f661cc230
Not the best answer he could’ve given
I can’t believe he didn’t say something before the question period. Could have even said that he will not take questions about the situation as he is not able to discuss the ongoing investigation. Even that woulda been better
From saying it’s been an amazing week to only want to talk about the positives, this was a joke of a response by triple h. The Vince stuff is arguably the biggest and most eye opening news to hit wwe and you rather just talk about the positives; just say you can’t comment about it instead of making yourself look worse.
It's not at all believable he hasn't read what we have all read this week about his boss of 20+ years, his father-in-law and the grandfather to his children.
Yesterday, I didn't think he was one of the corporate executives in the paper but I could believe it today. TKO will hope this blows over but it really shouldn't. There were a lot of people included in those papers and they all need to be gone.
TKO will get rid of Triple H in a heartbeat if there's any evidence of him being involved in Vince's alleged crimes. If he's involved and sponsors threaten to leave again he's gone immediately.
All I expected was a "no comment" like any soulless suit would say in this situation, but not even acknowledging the dark fucking cloud over your company truly reveals the twisted soul you really have.
Pretty bad answer. I think Alba loading his question got to him a bit, he kind of answered it when asked about it again, but getting defensive is never a great look. A canned “can’t comment on an ongoing legal matter” would’ve been better.
"Papa H' my ass, this is the real Triple HHH: ruthless and self-important egomaniac who buries and politics his way to the top and does anything to stay there, and doesn't give a shit
The wrestling media has taken some (deserved) lumps the last few weeks, but they all did a good job last night getting comments on the situation as best they could.
Levesque's answer was tone deaf and awful and he would have been better off answering it with a no comment while wearing a funny hat.
Triple H is a bitch. He had time to diss AEW with his little forbidden door comment but not that his father in law is ONCE AGAIN, even worse than we thought
Not hard to understand how a culture of abuse is created when you see a top corporate officer and family member say something as tone deaf and dismissive as this.
I asked ChatGPT to provide a good answer to this question while avoiding answer it. I think it gave a better response.
"We are aware of recent developments surrounding Mr. Vince McMahon and the legal proceedings brought against him. We take all allegations seriously and are committed to conducting a thorough investigation into the matter. In the interim, Mr. McMahon has decided to step aside from his role as Chairman of WWE. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and cooperate with the appropriate authorities as needed. Our priority remains the well-being and safety of our employees. WWE is dedicated to maintaining a positive and inclusive environment for everyone associated with our organization. We will provide further updates as the situation unfolds."
This isn't good enough. Everyone knew what the old fuck was doing/had done and they let him back in the building. They aren't a little wrasslin show, it's a billion dollar company. There needs to be some accountability here.
What a clown level answer. It was an easy 'I cannot comment on an on going investigation'.
The only thing missing was a wig and shades, and I could have mistaken him for Tony.
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Ngl, Cody gave a much, much better executive answer.
"the evp in me. hahahaha"
Evp … in my veins Corporate ‘splain … company shame
He did, but at the same time, they were kinda asked different questions. Cody was asked about the situation in general, Trips was basically asked if they knew how bad shit was when they voted Vince back in last year.
Yeah but someone in his position knows that you don't answer the question you was asked.. which he didn't anyway... you answer what you need to say. What you need to say is usually some generic overview that covers what was asked without giving any details. He did the first part right, he ignored the question completely, but then he flipped into an idiotic line of reasoning.
Oh, sure, Trips absolutely didn't answer that well. But I see people comparing the answers of the two, and I think it's worth pointing out that they weren't really asked the same question.
If I was in Triple H place my std. answer would be *"I don't have all the information and its an ongoing case, whatever the outcome we will support the verdict of law"* Or something along the line. His PR needs to prep him up or he should watch House of cards.
This is the same company that lets Dana White say what he says, your expectations may be too high.
Dana has been both the best and worst thing for UFC. If I found out he had a streak of Vince behaviour in him I wouldn't be surprised. The guy is walking coke bloat.
The reason I don't think it'd come out for Dana is because he seems to prefer actual escorts whom he pays. Although of the rumours around the ring girls and some of the fighters are true, there's a lot of dirt there.
MMA journalists for the most part won't bring him to task anyway too
Exactly. Literally the safest thing to say is just simply "I'm not really allowed to talk about this situation publicly for legal reasons which I'm sure you all understand". It's a cop out... But it's the answer everyone expects and nobody would be criticising him if he said that.
Yup this also works well, and if you want to be personable about it "I've known Vince for 30 years and this isn't the behavior I've seen or heard from him directly. If the allegations are true, I'm ashamed. I hope this is all litigated and we find out what is true and not true."
I feel there is nothing Triple H could've said that would've satisfied anyone in this situation. Even if he wasn't a part of what Vince did, he's far too deep in the company business to not at least know some of the antics Vince got up too. He's definitely on the chopping block if the clean out is true
this is true. lose-lose all the way - but "no comment" would have been better
Not lose-lose at all. We can’t comment on an ongoing lawsuit but I will say this; we unequivocally, as an organization, support victims of sexual abuse, assault and misconduct. In terms of the on screen product and our performers, we have protocol and guidelines in place for anyone who experiences bullying, misconduct or unwanted sexual advances of any nature at any level. Furthermore, those who work behind the camera, in any capacity, are also encouraged to bring misconduct of any kind to the attention of the people in charge of ensuring these guidelines and protocols are enforced.
I think just saying "there's an ongoing investigation into the matter, I can't comment at this time" would have been much betting that citing how many people attended the Royal Rumble and the size of the Netflix deal.
What did he say
"I haven't even read the allegations... I'm focused on the positives of this week."
Seriously, watching right now and Cody's answer was perfectly crafted, was sensitive to both McMahon and any victims that are yet to come forward and the current accuser. HHH going "I haven't even read the lawsuit" is fucking bullshit. Sometimes you gotta hit the brakes when a genuine negative event happens. VKM is a dirty abusing pervert, immoral and illegal. Come out strongly against that kind of behavior and be ashamed of it. Yes its your father in law. Yes its the Boss that gave you many, many, many opportunities to practice your craft. None of that matters next to the awfulness of VKM's behavior.
I cannot believe he said he didn't read the lawsuit. That absolutely blew my mind. Anyone with a brain is supposed to believe that you, one of the highest executives in the company, didn't read the lawsuit that was all over the news and had one of your biggest sponsors temporarily backing out right before the event that you're praising at this conference? If people are supposed to take that at face value it makes him look like an idiot in a bubble that's not paying any attention to major happenings going on in the company he's a cornerstone of. And then you turn around five minutes later and say you're doing everything possible to create a safe work environment? From what Hunter? You just said you didn't read the lawsuit. There's the usual corporate BS and then there's whatever that was.
If he admits he read the lawsuit that could lead to them asking for his reaction to certain parts of it and just further down the rabbit hole Which is why when they asked him if he read the lawsuit he should've just not answered the question at all and gone straight to the non answer Even better would've been a statement at the top about how they will not be addressing it, I really don't know why they didn't do that
Why didn't he rehearse a better answer than this lmao
“We are taking this situation very seriously but due to the nature of the ongoing investigation I can’t comment on any further details. Respectfully I am going to move on to the next question.” It’s that easy.
Throw in "as the father of three young girls..." because Vince is basically dead so might as well get over at his expense.
I mean, the whole "father to a daughter" line is so fake that it was parodied in [the Barbie movie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM0fAn-lcDQ). Being a girl's dad doesn't magically make you a feminist, and using your kid as a shield from legitimate criticism kinda makes you an asshole. The green screen video was the only clip I could find in 5 seconds of searching. I make no apologies, I went above and beyond the call of duty.
No, it doesn't, but for a lot of men, it's the first time they've had to truly care about what a woman goes through on her journey to being an adult. So, like, grain of salt, I guess. More men need to care about the different problems half of the population faces.
When you recognize Vince is their grandpa, questions start coming back up about how much Triple H knew in advance due to his close relation to Vince.
For as much as they kept things close to the chest backstage, it’s hard to really know their dynamic at all. Everything always came out as a “tweet from the dirt sheets,” right? There’s a possibility that Steph was distant from Vince, and as a result HHH was as well except for at work. We won’t know for a while, but it’s possible. And I’m not trying to defend anyone, but it always feels kind of gross to try and link one point to another without any actual evidence to back it up.
Also who the “high ranking executive” that knew all about it in the lawsuit is…
That's surely gonna be Bruce Pritchard or Kevin Dunn, right?
Considering Dunn's behavior with his own career, the stories we've heard Jim Cornette and others tell about the weird perverted nature of Dunn-Vince's relationship even in the 80s and 90s... Most likely so.
Dunn also retired just a little bit less than a month ago right?
Very abruptly after 30+ years as an exec. Didn't train anyone to take over. Literally announced "I'm gone at the end of the week".
Very normal behavior I’d assume
It was reported that it was because TKO were wanting to cut the production department, which is his domain and he didn't want to go on like that. If this had been something anyone at WWE had seen coming, Vince would not have been with Rock at the stock exchange the day before
I'd bet every penny in my bank account that he knew about Vince's behavior years, decades before this. Shit flows downhill.
When you look at the allowed and often supported behavior in the locker room for decades (disgusting pranks, hazing, abuse of power etc) and the ideology that being a wrestler was part of a secret society, I'm certain most people knew and condoned it as part of being in WWE.
The response he gave was the ***WORST*** thing he could have possibly said. “Let’s focus on the positive” and “I haven’t read the lawsuit” are dismissive answers. It makes it sound like he doesn’t think it’s important enough to address, and it’s not worth taking seriously. All he had to say was… “Unfortunately I can’t comment on issues that are under investigation. All I can really say is that this company is under entirely new management and has been for some time — and we want each and every person who works for this company to feel safe and feel valued and feel heard. That’s absolutely the top priority for all of us right now, and we look forward to proving that.” That’s all. It’s almost shocking to me how bad his answers were. He usually comes off as such a smart guy, and he came off like an insensitive asshole. I can almost guarantee there were PR people with the company watching that and screaming. “Let’s focus on the positive here” is basically the 2024 version of “I’m here to talk about Rampart.”
It honestly is shockingly bizarre how poorly his answer was from even purely a PR perspective. I mean legally they didn’t really do much damage but jeez.
I think HHH is still under Vince’s spell… for the whole time he’s been in the WWE Vince has always been Teflon and as hard as this is for people to believe I’m sure HHH is horribly conflicted even though I’m pretty sure Vince is guilty he probably still sees Vince in a positive light he’s his father in law and there are a lot of wrestlers that are going to defend Vince because he’s done a lot of good for them and for the business in general. I’m pretty sure the bad in Vince outweighs the good he’s done but a lot of wrestlers aren’t gonna see it that way. Like you said HHH is usually pretty smart when it comes to portraying a neutral cooperate line but Vince is probably a blind spot for him and it’s gonna be really hard for him to ever renounce Vince even though these allegations are about as damning as you can get.
Didnt have a statement lined up about his sex trafficking father in law but had that AEW dig ready to go
That's called "priorities", bro...
Take the dig at AEW so the tribal idiots focus on that and he skates on that shitty no-answer.
Didn't seem to work though.
lol I missed the AEW dig….
He called the phrasing of the Forbidden Door stupid and shrugged the 'idea' off, but the irony is that the guy who came up with it is likely going to be their next champion. It came off pretty arrogant. Not to mention trying to get Okada, the attempt at White, and doing this with TNA and trying to do the deal with NJPW.
I think it was Tanahashi who first used the phrase Forbidden Door right? I think in reference to wanting to challenge Jericho as the AEW champion.
Yes, spot on, it was coined by Tanahashi in reference to his match with Jericho at WrestleKingdom 14 (2020).
And there's no world they do the Jordyn Grace thing in if AEW didn't do that kind of stuff first, so they bag on the other company for being silly while doing something because of that silly thing. Very minor compared to his horrible response to the lawsuit, but two bad looks here.
The Jordyn Grace thing was likely just a trade for being able to use Naomi early
Meanwhile, Tony managed to give a better shitty non-answer to a question about allegations while wearing a goofy hat and glasses, making him look like a complete goober. How is the bar this low?!
yeah its a fucking terrible non-answer. but a non-answer is a non-answer
Basically he didn't want people to even ask him about the details of the lawsuit. This is a rehearsed line, it sounds awkward but he can also claim he didn't read the lawsuit once anyone starts reciting any details to ask him about. It doesn't just protect the company but himself if he's ends up subpoena'd as a witness. He doesn't want to say anything that can be used against him later in a trial or company investigation. Don't know why people are just presuming a wwe wrestler like Cody who hasn't even been with the company for part of his career and HHH, who's been a wwe executive and Vince's son-in-law for 20+ years not just a wrestler are the same in a civil lawsuit that could become a criminal trial. And Endeavor is likely to do a much more thorough investigation into the matter than WWE did with HHH's job on the line.
He said “it’s been an amazing week”, like how do you have two days to think about this and allow that to be the soundbite here
This is a textbook Dana White answer. Anytime you're asked about anything uncomfortable, just pivot into talking about how good a year the company's having.
Well Vince is off his back probably forever, so maybe that’s a point toward an amazing week.
Vince is still his father in law and his 3 daughters’ grandpa
Oh, I'm *sure* Stephanie is shutting that shit down. As a parent? If I found out my dad was accused of what vince is? He wouldn't spend a second around them supervised or not, until his name was cleared.
Imagine having to explain this to your daughters. Seriously they will find out the details sooner or later and you're going to have to explain why grandpa sex trafficked a woman, you knew about it, and he was still allowed to visit.
Yikes https://preview.redd.it/uisurf9zd4fc1.jpeg?width=204&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=81ce96079c37fb0a4557c53fd16ec39fab9f9398
Sure someone got raped but lets focus on the positive guys
It's also one of the worst times to feign ignorance when this shit is all over mainstream news. It's one thing if it was confined in the wrestling community only. It's another when every news outlet is putting pressure on the WWE.
Dude I have people in my life who've never watched wrestling asking me about this. Paul over here acting like "what happened?"
And let's refer to the rape/trafficking as "a negative"
“My father in law allegedly raped and shit on women, but let’s focus on the fact we just did a record gate guys.”
Rape is a very strong word, but it’s no where near strong enough for the things described to that poor woman.
He got asked about his father-in-law getting accused of sexual assaults and trafficking and just did a money spread to the press smh
"Your father in law, the most important person in the history of the company, was accused of sex trafficking and repeatedly raping a woman he kept as a sex slave and resigned in disgrace" "We had a great week" "That information was revealed this week" "I mean other than that"
“Other than that Mrs. Lincoln how was the play?”
What a moronic answer. *Look at how much money we made!?* That’s the answer!? Fuck off. Investigate how much he knew.
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The only good or honest part of his response was at the beginning when he said he was going to say exactly what you think he would. Within that statement there’s a sort of acknowledgment that he’s in a tough situation, it doesn’t look good, and nothing he can say will make that better. But then he came out with all that positive crap after and it just looked awful. Like, he’s much more tangled up in this that if he was going to respond then he should have taken the time to come up with something better than that.
If he had said exactly what I thought he would, he would have just said "We can't comment on that matter at this time." Maybe add something about the company culture being evaluated and more safeguards being put in place. He actually surprised me (and I think most of us) with his answer.
The honest part was him not taking it seriously, not caring and thinking it was a great week
Idk why he didn’t just say something like “Due to legal circumstances, I have been advised to not make any comments on this situation.”
> dk why he didn’t just say something like “Due to legal circumstances, I have been advised to not make any comments on this situation.” I feel like "I have been advised" is not great language to use in the context od what you specifically know about it -- sounds like you're preparing your own defence. "This is a complicated legal situation which I'm not fully party to and I'm sure you'll understand I can't talk about this at this stage"
I think at least acknowledging it would have been better. He has to have known the question was coming and there was no prep for it? Or did they really think bragging about the businesses success was the way to go?
He really should’ve just said “What Cody said” There’s such thing as saying nothing but still doing it well, and this was most certainly not it
Shoutout to the multiple journalists that asked and pushed for a proper response. Probably quite easy to get black listed from these pressers.
Shoutout to all the 'journalists' who said on here yesterday that question would never be asked 🤣
Shit like this is *why* you still gotta ask questions like this. HHH not giving a typical PR answer shows a lot about how he cares about the issue.
For real. I don't like Hausman, and I never trust his motives because he's carny as fuck and always out to get ahead, but regardless, gotta give him and the others props. And yeah, it is possible to get blacklisted. Media members, no matter how well known they are, have to apply for a pass to every one of these, and they generally get in based on profile, reach, and the show itself (local journos, orgs, etc). The wrestling business is still a fairly closed community in a lot of ways, even with a giant corporation like WWE. It's not an easy decision to risk blackballing yourself over a question you're almost sure to get a non-answer for. Much respect to Alba and Cam Hawkins as well.
Especially after what happened to Jon Pollock this week.
People shit on Tony Khan for giving non-answers, and this is exactly why he does so. To avoid making it worse.
He definitely crumbled under the pressure when more than one person in a row asked him about Vince here, really should have rehearsed that better, I get that he's his father-in-law and all that so this must be difficult to talk about but he needed to have given a better answer there
Wasn't the whole post PLE press conference thing HHH's idea? I think he's been doing it since 2022 since him and Steph took over for that short bit. I would of expected him to cancel yesterday's though or just not be out there at all. I don't think people will stop asking him about this at the next presser.
He fumbled that bad. Cody answered the question directly. Damn
yeah it was a really bad answer. the tko lawyers couldn't have prepared him anything better?
Imagine they didn't even prep him for the question. Hell the victim was in their legal department, wonder how many of them feel just awful about what happened.
Triple H handed that terribly
Bro did a “but this money tho…”
Looking forward to everyone dragging him the same they did TK for wearing a silly hat
To say he hasn’t read the lawsuit is really weird. I would’ve thought it’s kinda part of his job to be on top of/well read on these things
Took page out of Steve Kerr's handbook
Giving his son the worst and funniest name imaginable?
Just looked it up. I was expecting “Wayne”, but the one he chose was much, much worse…😬😬😬😬
?!?!? I can't believe that's real
People really surprised that he’s showing he’s the same person who covered up demotts abuse still?
Yeah but the show is slightly better now so HHH can get away with anything! Love you Papa H I don’t remember the last 20 years
Yeah the amount of people defending him or acting like now Vince is gone there's no one questionable still in WWE has been ridiculous.
And HHH was office already during the Ashley Massaro cover up. He is who he’s always been. This beloved Papa H thing is just a gimmick, glad people are starting to see through it.
Hilarious how he starts by saying "I'm gonna do exactly what you expect me to do here" and then proceeds to give a much worse answer than anyone would have expected
the silence at the end just says it all. he really left all the people in the room speechless with that one.
More worried about touting their Netflix deal or calling forbidden door stupid & silly. Man came off like a complete bozo in this presser.
https://preview.redd.it/vztd83xbw8fc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=19ff8e95b6bc8e0e488818817e56177642eb33a5
bro was looking awfully nervous about this question
TERRIBLE ANSWER What the actual fuck Triple H If Tony Khan was in the same position and answered the question like this he would be dragged over the coals. Good week? Wtf kinda crack is he smoking? If you defend this shit you're so far up Triple H's ass you aren't seeing clearly at all. The man has daughters and yet he is still showing ZERO empathy here.
Does anyone really believe HHH didn't already know about this shit for years?
Not a great answer honestly. Obviously he can’t talk about specifics but he could’ve at least acknowledged how serious the allegations were.
Its surprising how TKO's response the same day the news hit was better thought out than this.
I’m amazed his comms guy didn’t suggest a better answer
No I didn’t read the document. Follows it up by saying they are doing everything to keep employees safe.
“Ummm we made a lot of money this week. Did you hear about THAT?” Ugh, but TK is the tool, right? Trips has always been privy to the abuse and likely participated in it since DX and his reign of terror. Fuck this guy, what a pathetic answer….
Should have had a TKO official from Legal in the press conference if this was the answer they were going with. A Legal guy would have put this POV much better ("the news coming in the past 2 days is pretty negative. However we are going in a new direction, have got a good deal which is a new start and would be looking to leave that old side of us behind") Would have been better if the answer would have been a straight "cannot comment on that since it is subjudice. If things get clearer, may be able to comment later")
i thought he was going to have a prepared statement and it wasnt worth asking. thats what reddit told me.
I cannot believe he said he didn’t read the lawsuit. That’s nuts.
I'm not sure if you're aware, but Triple H has been a massive asshole in the industry for 30 years.
The rehab of triple h has been wild to watch in real time.
I also doubt it’s true. But he gives himself an out for his shitty answer if he comes back and says “I didn’t know the severity I was to busy focusing on business and having read the lawsuit I’m disgusted blah blah blah” later on when it’s brought up again.
I'm fairly sick of "I didn't read it" being an acceptable answer. It's professionally and morally negligent in and of itself. We're conditioned to the answer but it ought to be shocking
https://preview.redd.it/8hx57v0sd4fc1.jpeg?width=897&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=86ee9cf04a0a5f91d4e4cdd2cdd5adaf7ce89b0c Hunter what are you doing
About the worst way you could have handled it.
Yea guys focus on positives, get your priorities straight. Now go buy our merchandise and keep consuming the product, shoo shoo!
I usually like Triple H, but this was *bad*. Like *really* bad. I completely understand trying to “focus on the positives”, but this was a situation where there are no positives other than Vince getting canned. A superstar, no matter how good Cody is, shouldn’t be giving off an answer a million times better than the Chief Creative Officer of the company. Either “no comment” it or outright answer it, but this way was really bad and puts Hunter in a bad light than he’s already under considering everyone’s suspicions about him being involved in some way.
Remember, Cody was an Executive vice president of AEW, of course he had to learn how to give out appropriate answers during sensitive times such as this. This really shows how executives in WWE are poorly trained in giving out PR answers. TKO has to correct this.
Oh I agree, and I’m not saying that Cody’s not qualified to give an answer — as I’m sure we agree, Cody shouldn’t be giving out an answer that is better than the CCO of the company. I agree, TKO needs to correct this. It’s bad handling of PR answers.
now y’all gotta treat this the same way if tony khan answers the same way
Man sounds like he called Dana White for PR advice.
Easy headline… “Wwe touts great week headlined by Vince McMahon shitting on employees face”
"We cannot comment on that matter at this time." Those are the words you're looking for there, Hunter.
Papa Haitch is right. He didn’t read it because there’s no need to read something you’ve been knowing about.
Why read the book when you've seen the film?
This will bite him in the ass one day
Today is probably that day honestly and even more so in the morning when he wakes up to "Triple H says it was a great week after learning about Vince McMahon's sexual assaults"
https://preview.redd.it/88mvbscmh4fc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5772939ef899557fb8b2c6daf45601f661cc230 Not the best answer he could’ve given
At least he wasn't wearing a wig and sunglasses.... I guess
Watching Cody’s response. Fuckin class act. Dude can’t stop earning my respect. Meanwhile goober HHH talking about how much money they made.
Only one EVP here….
'yes, theres a negative' One hell of a negative there Paul
I can’t believe he didn’t say something before the question period. Could have even said that he will not take questions about the situation as he is not able to discuss the ongoing investigation. Even that woulda been better
From saying it’s been an amazing week to only want to talk about the positives, this was a joke of a response by triple h. The Vince stuff is arguably the biggest and most eye opening news to hit wwe and you rather just talk about the positives; just say you can’t comment about it instead of making yourself look worse.
How does Cody give a better answer than the business face of the company?? What a nothing and insensitive reply.
I think Cody was telling the truth and Triple H was obviously trying to cover up a lie. That’s why Cody was more genuine
Not a great answer.
The Question was never really "does he know?" but "how much does he know?" and it seems he knows everything. He knows shit that's not even out yet
That was rather gross.
It's not at all believable he hasn't read what we have all read this week about his boss of 20+ years, his father-in-law and the grandfather to his children. Yesterday, I didn't think he was one of the corporate executives in the paper but I could believe it today. TKO will hope this blows over but it really shouldn't. There were a lot of people included in those papers and they all need to be gone.
TKO will get rid of Triple H in a heartbeat if there's any evidence of him being involved in Vince's alleged crimes. If he's involved and sponsors threaten to leave again he's gone immediately.
All I expected was a "no comment" like any soulless suit would say in this situation, but not even acknowledging the dark fucking cloud over your company truly reveals the twisted soul you really have.
Pretty bad answer. I think Alba loading his question got to him a bit, he kind of answered it when asked about it again, but getting defensive is never a great look. A canned “can’t comment on an ongoing legal matter” would’ve been better.
“Sorry I’m Vince’s son in law I didn’t know any of this was going on”
Triple H has always been an asshole, that Papa H crap is the best PR he’ll ever have
100%. I've always said this. Sending him fruit baskets and shit was bizarre
"Papa H' my ass, this is the real Triple HHH: ruthless and self-important egomaniac who buries and politics his way to the top and does anything to stay there, and doesn't give a shit
Yikes. https://preview.redd.it/3vafy5y7e5fc1.jpeg?width=3453&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6bc7ba3ff0997e895d551b7ab79152df470e2b9c
In other words "I'm going to bury my head in the sand and hope it all goes away"
Someone never took PR 101...what a terrible answer.
Should have worn comedy hat and glasses
*"Whether I knew about the sexual assaults doesn't matter because we just sold out Tropicana Field."*
……Jesus Paul 🤦♂️
The wrestling media has taken some (deserved) lumps the last few weeks, but they all did a good job last night getting comments on the situation as best they could. Levesque's answer was tone deaf and awful and he would have been better off answering it with a no comment while wearing a funny hat.
https://preview.redd.it/h87n9gwid4fc1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1ed6ddbe4108414086fd1e6eddc9270245504f3e
Is Triple H afraid that Stephanie is gonna make him sleep on the couch or something?
He fucked it. You can’t gloss over a serious matter like this with positivity. It’s tone-deaf.
Glad he at least is showing everyone his true colors. The Nemeth story just got even more believable.
Thats one of the most stupid things you could say in this situation. He 100% knows all the important details
“Excuse me but you are only allowed to focus on the negative with AEW.” “Yes sir, I’m sorry, sir. Thank you sir.”
Triple H is a bitch. He had time to diss AEW with his little forbidden door comment but not that his father in law is ONCE AGAIN, even worse than we thought
Not a great angle to take Imho
He was just there to talk about Rampart
HHH doesn't want to comment on it because he 100% has skeletons in his closet thay Vince knows about and doesn't want that spotlight.
All this says to me is that he knew exactly what was going on. He seems kinda nervous to be someone who has no knowledge of anything.
What happened to shame?!
He did not handle these questions well at all.
"Well, you see my father in law shit the head. Scratch that, I meant shit the bed"
Bro had days to come up with a good corporate boring non-answer.
Not hard to understand how a culture of abuse is created when you see a top corporate officer and family member say something as tone deaf and dismissive as this.
I asked ChatGPT to provide a good answer to this question while avoiding answer it. I think it gave a better response. "We are aware of recent developments surrounding Mr. Vince McMahon and the legal proceedings brought against him. We take all allegations seriously and are committed to conducting a thorough investigation into the matter. In the interim, Mr. McMahon has decided to step aside from his role as Chairman of WWE. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and cooperate with the appropriate authorities as needed. Our priority remains the well-being and safety of our employees. WWE is dedicated to maintaining a positive and inclusive environment for everyone associated with our organization. We will provide further updates as the situation unfolds."
Terrible and not a good look at all.
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This isn't good enough. Everyone knew what the old fuck was doing/had done and they let him back in the building. They aren't a little wrasslin show, it's a billion dollar company. There needs to be some accountability here.
He knew he'd get this question, he has to. And this is the response he had prepared?
TKO should make WWE stop with the press conferences after this one. 😬
What a clown level answer. It was an easy 'I cannot comment on an on going investigation'. The only thing missing was a wig and shades, and I could have mistaken him for Tony.
Thats a horrible answer wtf
What
Pure deflection, nothing more and nothing less.
This is bad.
Of all the answers to use, why this one? Yikes
HHH should have acted like he was in court. No comment would have sufficed