WWE media scrums are "harmful to the business," legend says (Exclusive)
Teddy Long believes WWE should stop inviting reporters to ask questions at media scrums after premium live events go off the air.
At the post-Royal Rumble press conference, Triple H was asked three questions about Janel Grant's lawsuit against Vince McMahon. The WWE Chief Content Officer did not want to discuss the topic, instead stating that he wanted to "focus on positives." Many fans criticized The Game on social media for brushing aside the sensitive subject.
Long, a former WWE referee and on-screen personality, appeared on Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Time Machine alongside Bill Apter and Mac Davis. The Hall of Famer claimed the press conference concept does not make sense in the storyline-driven world of wrestling:
"I think that they're more harmful to the business [than helpful] because anything you need to know, you can go right on social media and find it out, but to confront somebody with some of these ridiculous questions, you know what I mean?" Long said. "Just trying to get a rating, get somebody to listen to you, just doesn't make sense to me. If you're gonna talk about it, let's take time and let's talk about it. Don't just run some random question, 'Well, what you thinking?' I just don't agree with it." [20:53 – 21:24]
Watch the video above to hear Teddy Long's honest thoughts on Janel Grant's allegations against former WWE executive John Laurinaitis.
Bill Apter thinks WWE should have handled the media scrum differently
The Royal Rumble press conference took place shortly after the event ended. Royal Rumble winners Bayley and Cody Rhodes answered reporters' questions before Triple H spoke about the success of the show.
Bill Apter believes WWE's parent company, TKO, should have given Triple H a statement to read about Vince McMahon to avoid any awkward questions:
"You can't ignore the elephant in the room. But, again, as I said at the start of this show, in my opinion, TKO, they could have done away with this whole situation of the press asking anything had they prepared a statement in advance for Triple H to say that this is our stance on this. 'I'm sorry because it's a legal question. We cannot get involved in asking any questions. We appreciate that you're here, and any time anything comes out that we know about, we will keep you all informed. Now, can we have a question about the Royal Rumble?'" [20:05 – 20:44]
After Janel Grant's lawsuit was filed, McMahon denied the allegations before resigning as a TKO board member "out of respect" for the company.
Do you think post-show press conferences are bad for the wrestling business? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Time Machine and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.