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Vince McMahon was embroiled in one of the biggest controversies in pro wrestling history after sex trafficking allegations against him became public. Shortly thereafter, McMahon stepped down from his role at TKO Holdings, the parent company of WWE. This weekend, Paul “Triple H” Levesque was asked about his father-in-law's allegations, and his lack of comment angered many, including Dave Meltzer.
In an X (formerly known as Twitter) post criticized Meltzer Levesque's handling of the situation. He made it clear that he personally likes Levesque, but that he thinks the WWE CCO handled things poorly. Other online fans also shared Meltzer's opinion, while there are a significant number of reports defending Levesque's approach and arguing that he probably couldn't comment on it in any way.
“Your father-in-law was just accused of sex trafficking and rape. Everyone knows how much I like Paul personally, but that was bad. The most powerful man in the company's history has just been deposed in disgrace. That was really bad.”
Meanwhile, many in WWE were surprised by the fallout and expected a stronger reaction from sponsors like Slim Jim, who threatened to withdraw their sponsorship ahead of the WWE Royal Rumble 2024 event. Additionally, members of the promotion were reportedly surprised at how quickly McMahon resigned following the allegations, and there is a belief that Endeavor may remove other members of the boardroom who were close to McMahon. Those who returned alongside McMahon after he initially retired could be among the first to be released if Endeavor goes that route.
McMahon's profile was surprisingly removed from WWE.com given the allegations against him and his profile is currently inaccessible. WWE has notably only done this a few times in the past, such as during Hulk Hogan's racial slur controversy, when the details behind Chris Benoit's double murder and suicide became clear, and after Jimmy Snuka went on trial for murder in 2016.