After learning about Vince McMahon's resignation from WWE following the filing of a lawsuit by former employee Janel Grant, fans, wrestlers, and media members alike all flocked to the Royal Rumble press conference either in person or online to see what Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE's CCO, had to say about one of the biggest stories in professional wrestling history.

*spoiler alert* he didn't have much to say on the matter, less, in fact, than his men's Royal Rumble match winner, the “American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes.

Discussing Levesque's controversial decision to “focus on the positives” after entertaining millions of fans around the world, a man the former Terra Ryzing knows very well, Eric Bischoff, weighed in on the WWE booker's comments on his Strickly Business podcast, noting that while asking the question was important, anyone expecting a heartfelt response simply had unrealistic expectations.

“I found it interesting. But I wasn't surprised because — I really didn't want to get into this and create a debate over what should or shouldn't have happened. But in this context, I was a little surprised but actually relieved, because anybody who's ever worked in a corporate environment where there is a pending litigation — and there's a lot of pending litigation going on right now… You have to be so careful about what you say that if you're going to make an official comment, it literally has to be structured by a team of attorneys. And the senior attorney representing, the kind of corporate attorney representing and leading that effort, they'll have to sign off on that statement,” Eric Bischoff explained via 411 Mania.

“If you can imagine whether John, it was you or anybody asking a question that you know, I'm not gonna say you did this. But any reporter that would ask a question that they know Triple H can't answer. He can't give you his opinion. He can't give you his feelings. He can't go into any detail. He has two choices, right? Either read a prepared statement — and I get it, some people think that would have been a better way to go because at least it's addressing, but it's really not. You're gonna get bland, you're gonna get a legal statement from a corporate attorney coming out of Triple H's mouth, and the audience is going to gag on that. That's not what they want to hear. They don't want to hear Paul talking like an attorney. They want to hear his personal feelings about the matter. That's why the question was asked.

“So my point is, anybody who knows anything about this situation knows, including your job, not to beat you up, but it is what it is. You asked a very good question, you're articulate, you're respectful. Everything was great except for knowing he couldn't answer that question unless you read a prepared statement. And I think that was probably, I'm guessing, considered. Do we want Paul under the current circumstances, which are really interesting to talk about? Because I think this is kind of unprecedented, in almost every respect. Do we want him coming up pretending as an attorney or speaking as one? Or do we want him to just acknowledge that he's not going to answer it, move on to the next subject, and talk about focusing on something positive? So I think, under the circumstances — I know this is gonna be an unpopular position, don't care — I think Paul handled it the only way he should have handled it.”

So, after explaining the extensive backstory as to why Levesque commented on his father-in-law in the way that he did, Bischoff cut into the meat of what was actually said and has a similarly complex answer as to how it was handled.

Eric Bischoff believes Triple H couldn't win at the Royal Rumble.

So, addressing the actual meat and potatoes of what Paul “Triple H” Levesque said to reporters, Eric Bischoff acknowledged the challenge of saying something that would have appeased fans and TKO at the same time.

“But if Paul would have talked about how much they care for the talent and safety, and protection of the talents and everybody else in the corporate environment, and he wouldn't have been sympathetic to the alleged victim? He'd be getting heat for that,” Eric Bischoff noted. “Social media would have been accusing him of trying to protect Vince simply by not coming out and speaking about his reaction to those allegations. And I don't know that he did read [the lawsuit]. I mean obviously, nobody knows but him. But I can see a circumstance where he had not at that point. Keep in mind that it's Royal Rumble weekend, and there are major significant changes to the card. I can see where it would be something that he would sit down and be briefed on, even if he didn't read out, be briefed on the details. And perhaps that happened before.”

Did Triple H play it safe at the Royal Rumble press conference? Yes. Would it have taken all that much bravery to stand up for his wrestlers and provide some tangible ways he's ensured his performers are safe in the locker room? No, even if that got some heat for standing up for the talent, it's not like he was going to be fired for saying he is always striving to make WWE the safest place to work in professional wrestling, especially if he didn't say Mr. McMahon's name. In the end, fans will remember Levesque's comments for a very long time, no matter how much the promotion tries to turn Cody Rhodes into Bryan Danielson 2.0.