German journalist Tilo Jung confronts Cody Rhodes with a serious topic at the PK after the atmospheric big event in Berlin
WWE threw a big party for the fans in Berlin at the historic German show, but afterwards the wrestling market leader also had to confront a serious issue.
At the press conference after the big Bash in Berlin event at the Uber Arena, the serious rape, sex trafficking and harassment allegations against league founder Vince McMahon came up – and the question of whether the league and the athletes were covering up too much.
Tilo Jung asks WWE Champion tricky question at PK
The answer to the tricky question – posed by wrestling-interested political journalist and presenter Tilo Jung (“Jung und naiv”) – fell to WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, who stood in for “Triple H” Paul Levesque, who was absent from the PK for personal reasons
The question was prompted by the announcement of a Netflix documentary about McMahon, which WWE has said it is not involved in, even though the streaming giant is its future media partner. Rhodes emphasized this and stated that there was “misinformation” circulating about WWE’s role in the documentary.
The “American Nightmare” was asked by Jung about the documentary and the allegations currently being heard in court from McMahon’s former employee Janel Grant – who is one of several former WWE employees making allegations of sexual harassment and violence against McMahon. McMahon – who repeatedly paid millions in hush money to cover up the allegations – resigned after Grant filed a lawsuit, but maintains his innocence.
There are a total of three unsolved allegations of rape or serious sexual assault against McMahon: from Grant, ex-wrestler Rita Chatterton (settled out of court with a million-dollar settlement) and an anonymous ex-wrestler who allegedly forced McMahon to perform oral sex on her.
“No active attempt to silence the issue ”
Rhodes answered the explosive question about the handling of the McMahon case in an emphatically friendly manner, even speaking of a “great question”. He left it open as to whether he would watch the documentary – and defended his colleagues against the view expressed by Jung that they were “terribly silent” on the subject
At today’s press conference Cody Rhodes responds to a question about Janel Grant’s allegations and the Vince McMahon Netflix documentary pic.twitter.com/64zsExCrYG
– Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) August 31, 2024
“I don’t think it’s about being believed or not,” Rhodes said: “We do what we do out there and focus on telling good matches and good stories. We’re in a position to find out the information on this issue the way you do – in terms of what happened, how it happened and how there’s going to be justice for it.”
Rhodes asked for understanding from colleagues who are saying little or nothing about the issue: “I don’t see this as an active attempt by people in our cubicle to keep quiet about the issue. We’re just focused on doing what we do, running the WWE business, which is our job.”
When another member of the media asked if Rhodes believed Grant, the 39-year-old refused to commit. He didn’t have “enough information to give a good answer to that, I’m sorry”.
WWE creative and talent director Levesque, for whom the question about his father-in-law McMahon was actually intended, was absent from the PK, which he usually leads through. He left Berlin early because he had an important private appointment: Aurora Rose, the eldest daughter of the 55-year-old and his wife Stephanie McMahon – Vince’s daughter – is starting her college studies, Levesque had to get on a plane early to be able to attend the ceremony
