Thatās awful. āFocus on the positives from a great week for WWEā was not an unfortunate ad-lib. Itās what TKO actually wanted him to say. Disgusting.
If it was - heās pretty gullible to fall for it. As if thatās the case, heās being set up to be a fall guy.
If it was legitimately his opinion - heās a complete idiot.
If this was a test if leadership, he absolutely failed.
I sort of see his perspective. If youāre Triple H, even if you think/know youāre completely innocent, youāre gone if you donāt tow the company line. Doesnāt make it right, but I can imagine why it went down that way,
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I believe he was likely briefed in what to say. However it was horrible
I think the biggest issue is the WWEās name in this lawsuit. If he admits that he knew about this ahead of time, which obviously knew something because he voted to oust Vince from the board, that could implicate the company further. So Iām sure their legal team has told him just to avoid it, although he couldāve done that in a much better matter.
If I were him, I wouldāve just said just right off the bat:
I understand that they were going to be a lot of questions about the terrible allegations that came out. I cannot speak on behalf of the WWE or TKO but as you know, action was taken by them. In my role, I wanna do everything to make sure that we donāt let something like this happen again. About the specificity of what is detailed, Unfortunately, I am unable to comment on those, and all that I can say is that they were very disturbing was taken very seriously immediately
Like Iām no lawyer, but just off the top of my head thatās way better than what he said
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This headlineā¦Makes you realize how terribly this is being handled.
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If he was prepped, then certainly no crisis management group acting in his own interest told him to talk about an āamazingā week. Iām really trying to not go all four-dimensional chess/galaxy brain here, but the possibility that TKO is planning on using oven cleaner and just scrubbing -everyone- out of management and decided to let Levesque twist in the wind so as to be able to turf him later does not seem impossible.
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The thing is - thatās not all that far out of a thought.
The only way this could have been handled properly would have been a Nick Khan or equal, coming out and addressing the situation (however they corporately would have done that) at the jump of the presser.
Instead, itās Paul Lesveque, at his worst attempt to play friendly to the wrestling media and talk through it. The denial of reading the lawsuit is absolutely mind-blowing.
Whatever went into yesterday, was not with the intention of success.
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My jaw dropped when he claimed that he hadnāt read the suit, and after sleeping on it itās even more perplexing. If thatās a lie (which I believe it was) thereās a non 0% chance that that claim ends up being part of a court case. If it isnāt a lie (to paraphrase the bit from āCasinoā one of the VoW guys is always citing), either he didnāt read it because heās incompetent at his job or because he knows heās involved in it. Heās either a liar, incompetent, or complicit in the abuse.
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Iām just catching up now on everything online as I just watched the Rumble a couple hours ago. Havenāt seen the presser, but read the bullet points.
Hunter didnt come off well, but these are pretty much my thoughts. He was in a no-win situation. Either he pisses off TKO or he pisses of the fans. They probably should have just cancelled the press conference.
Feeling like a lot of things are going to be under a microscopeā¦
Iām wondering if we start seeing some moves by Endeavor/ TKO this weekā¦
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Honestly there is nothing that seems to indicate that āheads will rollā or old stories will be revisited by the main stream media other than rampant speculation by the same group of wrestling bloggers that thought a year ago the WWE was being purchased by Saudi Arabia.
If anything the opposite is true. Firing a bunch of people is a sign of guilt and gives the lawsuit more merit to extract a higher dollar value out of WWE.
Firing Vince was enough to get Slim Jim back. Pretty quickly the news cycle will move on.
IF there is a criminal prosecution against Vince then there could be ramifications. But itās not really known for sure if thatās the case. The most likely scenario is WWE distances itself from Vince and the Lawsuit and that works to appease most parties internal and external from the company. If that doesnāt work then they settle it quietly.
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Something thatās available as a free listen that may be worthwhile for those who donāt comprehend how deep this all runs, Iād strongly recommend giving these a listen:
From Between the Sheets, their Titangate series, that tackled the abuse scandal of the 80ās and early 90ās. Theyāve been made free to listen to.
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That is the way I see this going. I was just reading the Vince thread from June 2022 when he was busted for payoffs, and the same posters, bloggers etc. who are saying heads are going to roll now, back then were saying things like āNo way Vince gets out of this, heās doneā Now obviously things have escalated and heās done now, but the consequence from the payoffs was a short āretirementā, not the consequence so many thought as a fact was a sure thing.
Now this time I think Vince is done, but I dont think heads are going to roll like some feel. I think that many people have a deep hatred for WWE (and I get why) and are posting/writing/podcasting more so based on what they want to have happen vs what is the most likely to happen.
With that said, anything is possible and I could be wrong, but I think the Slim Jim situation is foreshadowing of how this is going to playout in the grand scheme of things, that being separate Vince from the WWE.
I understand WWE is being named in the lawusit, but I believe WWE/TKO/Endeavor is going to focus in the media on narratives such as āprevious ownersā āVince McMahonā etc. and while the bloggers/posters may not move on from that, mainstream media, advertisers likely will just like Slim Jim just did
I also agree with your last line in that IF it goes to criminal court, that could change things.
Will be interesting to see how things play out.
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Is this how you feel about John and Thurston? Because both of them have alluded to this being the tip of the iceberg, and lots more is likely going to come out.
If this was a situation where the WWE wasnāt a part of a larger conglomerate, then they would power through it. Thatās not the case any more. TKO wonāt want anybody who could be a liability working for them.
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Also, I just want to pause and say how much I admire the straight-face, some of the shills and grifters that put stuff out for WWE.
Alfred is a wrestling reporter who gets articles in Forbes all the timeā¦
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No, Iām referring to the people who are acting that it is 100% factual that everyone affiliated with WWE is going to be fired and they are going to burn it down which I donāt think is going to be the case.
John and Brandon (who in all honestly I donāt really know as I donāt listen to wrestlenomics) saying things ācouldā go that way is a completely valid thing to say and I agree.
I do think you do this if Iām being honest. I think you want so badly for it to go this way (and this isnāt even a criticism, I get your hatred) that you are searching the internet for articles and tweets to support this. Remember, back in June 2022, I am the one who was saying that Vince would likely find some way to get back in, and not because I wanted it to happen, but because I thought it would happen.
Like I have always said, time will tell how this plays out.
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Who is this clown? Iām sure Tony Khan could care less about that bad show
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