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Although WWE began its road to WrestleMania on Saturday with Royal Rumble 2024, there was still a “dark cloud” hanging over the company in the wake of the lawsuit filed this week against Vince McMahon.
Two days before the Royal Rumble took place, a lawsuit was filed against McMahon, alleging that the wrestling company founder engaged in sex trafficking and assault of a former employee. McMahon has denied the allegations, but on Friday he resigned as CEO and member of the board of directors of TKO Group Holdings, WWE’s parent company.
After the Royal Rumble, reporters asked WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque and men’s Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes about the lawsuit. His comments marked the first time anyone from WWE spoke publicly about it.
What did Cody Rhodes say about Vince McMahon’s lawsuit?
Rhodes was the first person asked about the lawsuit at the news conference. He was open to answering questions about it and began his response by saying that he and other WWE stars found out about the news when it broke on Thursday. He agreed with one reporter that the situation casts a “dark cloud” over the company, but he’s not sure what’s next for McMahon and WWE.
“As for the TKO, Nick Khan and the board clearly took it very seriously and acted immediately,” Rhodes said. “Looking ahead, I don’t know the answer.”
Rhodes then spoke about the camaraderie across the campus and said that has led to holding everyone accountable. He also said that he hopes the talent on each show can help people continue to enjoy wrestling.
“I’ve been through dark periods in our industry before,” Rhodes said. “If you’re in my position, that’s a moment where, ‘Hey, we’ve got 50,000 people here. I want to give them something else about this weekend that’s not a terrible situation or terrible news.’
“Obviously, as more news comes out, we’ll watch it just as you will.”
What did Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque say about Vince McMahon’s lawsuit?
Levesque mostly deflected when reporters asked him questions about the lawsuit several times, saying he wanted to focus on the “incredible week” WWE had in the Florida area, which included the company signing a $100 million deal. 5 billion with Netflix.
“I choose to focus on the positive and yes, there is some negative, but I want to focus on that and limit myself to that,” Levesque said.
He was then asked how WWE makes sure employees feel safe in the company, and he responded by saying that it’s a “very important” issue and that WWE is doing “everything we can” to ensure that. Levesque was then asked about his reaction to the lawsuit. He said he did not read the lawsuit, but said that, like Rhodes, he found out everything on Thursday.
“I’ll go back to what I said before. This is an incredible week for us, and right at this point, I don’t even want to get bogged down in the negatives,” Levesque said. “I just want to focus on the positives and where we’re going and we’re in the most exciting time of the year for us.”
Levesque added that this is the company’s best positioning since the “Attitude Era” of the late 1990s to early 2000s.