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Cody Rhodes was riding high after his second straight Royal Rumble win on Saturday night. The win sets Rhodes up for a rematch with Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal championship at WrestleMania 40 in Philadelphia in April.
Unfortunately, there was a dark cloud hanging over the event after a lawsuit accusing former CEO Vince McMahon of sex trafficking and sexual abuse surfaced earlier this week.
The allegations came to light in a lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant. WWE and John Laurinaitis, the former WWE head of talent relations, are also named as defendants. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut on Thursday, January 25. According to the lawsuit, Grant was trafficked “as a pawn to secure talent deals.”
As a result, Vince McMahon resigned from all duties with WWE and WWE/UFC parent company TKO Group Holdings.
After the event, Rhodes sat down with reporters and was asked about the allegations McMahon is facing. Rhodes did not shy away from the questions and directly addressed them with a lengthy answer.
Cody Rhodes discusses Vince McMahon news. #RoyalRumble pic.twitter.com/ifGcdD0z5z
— Denise 'Hollywood' Salcedo (@_denisesalcedo) January 28, 2024
“I know as far as the news was concerned, we were finding out and reading the same things that you guys were reading,” Rhodes told the media. “You said a dark cloud, certainly. As far as a TKO, Nick Khan, the board clearly took it very seriously, acted immediately. Looking at the future, I don’t know the answer to that.
“I think something [that], really, probably, is a basic tenant of this crew more than ever from a roster standpoint is very family. Never seen anything like this. Most of the time wrestlers fight and talk trash about each other, sandbagging each other in the ring, all that nonsense. This crew is very team-based and perhaps that’s the ingredient is everyone looking out for everyone, being accountable.
“And I know for me as a performer and a competitor, I’ve been through dark periods in our industry before. And it might sound cheesy but it’s very reinforcing if you’re in my position. It’s a time when, hey we got 50,000 people out here. I wanted to give them something else from this weekend that isn’t a terrible situation and terrible news and obviously as more news comes out we see it just like you do.”
It will be interesting to see what WWE does moving forward, with Endeavor, the company that purchased WWE in 2023, reportedly considering other moves to completely cut ties with McMahon and anyone associated with him.
If Endeavor and TKO Group Holdings want to completely cut all ties with the disgraced former WWE CEO, then anyone who worked closely with him during his time running the company should be let go.
It’s the only way to completely move forward and leave the McMahon era in the past.
